Friday, 2 June 2017

How to Estimate Your Vocabulary

How_to_Estimate_Your_Vocabulary

Everyone has two vocabularies, the words they know and the words they use (the latter is call a "working vocabulary"). Most children know 5,000 words by age 5. Most adults have a working vocabulary between 4, 000 to 5,000 words depending on education, and have a passive vocabulary of 17-20,000 words. This article will help you estimate your overall (passive) vocabulary.

1, Take a large desk dictionary (not a pocket version). Calculate one percent of the pages. For example, one percent of a 600 page dictionary is six pages.

2, Pick a letter to start with. Then determine where the sixth page ends.

3, Pick an easy letter to quiz yourself with. For example, A or E and not Q or Z.

4, Using one hand, count every word you have 80 percent confidence you could explain or define, if asked. With every fifth yes, use your other hand to tally your word count, namely where each stroke actually represents five defined words; this saves counting.

5, Tally it all up. When you finish your final page, tally your answers, then multiply by 100. The resulting number is a rough estimate of your overall vocabulary.

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