Each language, dialect, dialect, slang on our planet is unique and interesting in itself. And each of the listed options has its own specific set of words that fill the dictionaries and heads of students. But before starting to speak directly about the English language, I would like to start with our native language - native for me and for you reading this article - and the great Russian language.

Answer the question for yourself: how many words of your native language do you know and use absolutely freely in your speech? How will you count them? The first way is to take the largest dictionary and start ticking the words that are familiar to us. 3 weeks pass when we reach the words “jasper”, “box”, “foot-and-mouth disease” (who knows what), open the first page again and start counting. After another 3 weeks, everyone will reach a certain huge number of words and think about why he did all these manipulations. For what, I will tell a little later. The second way - we do not take a dictionary, we do not count anything, because we, personally, do not need this and we have good arguments. Why this is still necessary, I will also tell in this article. And finally, the third way - we find a definition test on the Internet, go through it and know exactly to what extent the number of words available to our consciousness varies. But even here a problem arises: how to choose the right test, because there are dozens of them, what are passive and active vocabulary, etc. So, let's turn to the theory and figure out what the vocabulary is and why I decided to talk about it today.

In simple unscientific language, vocabulary is that specific set of words that a certain person owns. It owns, and not just “I heard a ringing, I don’t know where it is.” Those. understands the meaning of a word, knows how to apply it in oral and written speech, perceives it in live communication. The whole vocabulary of a particular person can be divided into active and passive. The active vocabulary is the set of words that he uses in speech and writing when he is the source of this speech. The passive vocabulary is a set of those words that a person recognizes when reading this or that literature, or hearing them in oral speech, but is not the source of these words, i.e. does not use in his own speech. This distinction is applicable both for your native language and for the language you are studying as a foreign language, since in both cases there are those words that we personally use, and those whose meanings we recognize by our memory.

If we talk about the composition of the language as a whole, then the Russian language is almost impossible to calculate, since it is too rich and diverse, and according to various sources, it has from 2.5 to 4.5 million words and vocabulary units. In English, everything is much simpler, the last time an official count was carried out in 1999, and according to his data, there are just over one million words and vocabulary in this language. Therefore, we can safely rejoice that we are studying English, because a million is not so much. But seriously speaking, out of this “slightly more than a million” in ordinary everyday speech, even the most educated person uses no more than 20-30 thousand words and vocabulary units (and no more than 50 thousand are stored on the hard drives of his memory) - and moreover, that English is his native language. If we are talking about English as a foreign language that we study, then the highest rates for an active vocabulary are 8-10 thousand words, and for a passive one up to 15 thousand. Those. you see that the indicators are not so great and scary as it might seem at first glance.

Now it’s worth talking about how to calculate the very cherished figure that you reach with your amount of knowledge. There are many different ways, tests, calculations. I suggest you pay attention to two of them, and I will argue why I chose these options. The first of these counting options can be found on the site, which is dedicated to a joint American-Brazilian research project aimed specifically at counting the words of your passive vocabulary. It is built very simply - you just need to mark those words whose meaning (at least one) you know for sure. The only problem is whether you can be honest with yourself and really truthfully choose the words you learn. At the end, the system itself calculates your result and gives an approximate value of +/- 500 words. The second option for counting words allows you to do this by levels and specifically see what your omissions are. You can find this calculation option on the website. This test will allow you to go through the levels and determine exactly where we put an end to and continue learning. Each version of the test consists of 6 levels, and you need to pass them starting from the very first, even if you are sure that you know much more. The result will give you the opportunity to understand what your vocabulary is and what you should pay attention to.

But why count? Here is a question that many of you are now concerned about. After all, numbers are not important to anyone, you think. But it's not. Firstly, such a calculation allows you to objectively assess your level of knowledge, and secondly, when passing certain tests in British and American schools, I will ask you to indicate the results of the vocabulary calculation. And I do not advise any of you to do this offhand, because after testing, there may be an embarrassment of inconsistency between the data you specified and the test results. Therefore, knowing your vocabulary (especially active) is not only useful, but in some cases necessary.

• vocabulary in the amount of 350-700 words is an active vocabulary necessary for the initial (basic) level of foreign language proficiency.
• a vocabulary of 700-1300 words - enough to explain yourself (if it is active for you); and for reading at a basic level (if that's your passive vocabulary).
• vocabulary in the amount of 1300-2800 words - an active vocabulary sufficient for everyday everyday communication; in case it is passive, it is sufficient for fluent reading.
• a vocabulary of 2800-5500 words is quite suitable for free reading of the press or scientific literature.
• a vocabulary of up to 8000 words is enough for normal full-fledged communication of a person studying English as a foreign language, which will allow him to understand almost any literature, TV programs and the press.
• a vocabulary of up to 13,000 is the active vocabulary of a highly educated person who is learning English as a foreign language.

But even if you passed this test successfully, you should remember that only the words fixed in your memory will not give you the opportunity to communicate fluently in English, since this skill has many other aspects. However, having mastered 2000 correctly chosen frequently used words, with a certain grammatical base and practice, you can easily communicate in the magnificent language of Foggy Albion.

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Undoubtedly, a rich vocabulary is an indicator of a person's high intellectual development. If you have a beautiful speech, then in the modern world you will be perceived as a person with a good education and culture, a creative person. People who own an extensive vocabulary, in society, as a rule, cause more respect than those who cannot “link a couple of words”. Even if you are already out of childhood, this does not mean at all that you cannot enrich your speech - this is possible at any age. Read books that develop speech You probably know that reading books is beneficial for many reasons. This process can help improve memory, diction, and, of course, can positively affect the quality of your vocabulary. Start with those writers whose work is close and understandable to you. Over time, move on to more complex pieces. Pay attention to text containing interesting expressions that you would like to remember and use later. Reread these expressions by ear - so you better remember them. The most interesting of them can be written in a separate notebook. Expand your vocabulary with smart people If you want to replenish your vocabulary with interesting adverbial phrases or just smart words, then, of course, you should not neglect communication with intellectuals. If you notice that the speech of the people who surround you is very poor, then, of course, you should understand that you will not gain the necessary skills from communicating with them. Moreover, you yourself can lose the acquired vocabulary. Do not be afraid to look stupid by starting to communicate with people who know a lot of interesting information - this is one of the most effective ways to increase your intellectual level, and it was unwise not to use it. Improve your speech and vocabulary by learning new words When you hear or notice a new word while reading, in no case try to “skip” it - look up the definition in the dictionary. In addition, it is important to note for yourself in which turn of speech this word is used. After that, try to mentally replace it with a suitable synonym. Subsequently, having fully understood the meaning of a previously unfamiliar word, you will be able to replenish your vocabulary with it. To make it easier to remember, try to visualize it in your mind by adding images related to this word. Let the picture in your imagination be as saturated as possible. What literature to read for the development of literate speech For our time, the reference can be called the speech of the middle of the twentieth century - it is as close as possible to modern, but has not yet absorbed various jargon and barbarisms that appeared later. Therefore, it is desirable to give preference to literature predominantly of this period. The books of Russian and English classics will be most effective. It is also worth noting that there are special books that help in the development of speech. Let's name some of them. First of all, pay attention to the "Mastery of the on-air performance" by B. D., Gaymakova. First of all, the book will be of interest to people who plan to work on television and radio. However, this work will be useful to everyone else. It includes three parts that tell about the rules of public speaking, the technique and culture of speech. We advise you not to ignore the book by N. Gal "The Word is Living and Dead." The author is a well-known translator, but her work will be of interest not only to her colleagues. The work will help you find your own style, avoiding the "dead" language.

Learn a new word every day If you enrich your vocabulary with a new word every day, then, of course, after a while you will be able to show off your new knowledge very effectively. There are many apps and websites on the web that offer to learn new words. Also, communities with this focus exist in VK. It is important to remember that you do not just need to learn unfamiliar words - they should be used in everyday life. In the evening, learn some new concept for yourself, and the next day try to apply it in a conversation with someone. So memorization will be much more efficient. Hearing an unfamiliar word, be sure to “google” its meaning As soon as you happen to hear a word whose meaning you do not know or is rather vague for you, memorize it. To be sure, you can write it down on a piece of paper. Subsequently, at the first opportunity, look on the Internet for the meaning of this word. Read aloud, retell, learn poetry Reading aloud, as well as memorizing verses, is doubly useful. Thus, you not only develop your memory, but also learn vocabulary and syntax. In Russian, the word order in a sentence can be called quite free, but not everyone uses this freedom to the fullest. Almost every one of us has familiar syntactic constructions at the ready, thereby limiting the lexical range. If you have a task to expand this range, then when constructing phrases, you should use a creative approach. For example, if you are used to using the phrase "I want", then try to replace it with others - "I wish", "I would like" and the like. Of course, reading certain works will help you easily replace previously chosen phrases. However, quite often, when we start reading, we plunge into the plot, with little or no focus on vocabulary. As a result, the linguistic abundance of a work often passes us by. To avoid this, use this psychological trick: read books that the author wrote in the first person. When you study them slowly and thoughtfully, ready-made phrases will be stored in your memory, which you can later use when talking about yourself. Replace simple words with complex ones that broaden your horizons Try to use more complex words in your speech, replacing with them those simple words that you used to use before. To do this, for any words that you regularly use, look for synonyms. So you will significantly enrich and diversify your vocabulary. Do not treat this task as something very difficult and requiring serious energy costs - this is a natural process that can continue until the end of life. Solve crossword puzzles Solving crossword puzzles is not just fun, but also a great way to increase vocabulary. Do not neglect this opportunity on vacation, at home, on the road. Pay attention to crossword puzzles that are published in well-known, well-established publications.

Listen to audiobooks If you spend a lot of time driving and don't have much free time to read fiction and study dictionaries, then listen to audiobooks. Also, this technique is useful for those people who perceive information better by ear. Do not even doubt that if you pass the time in traffic to the sound of a good audiobook, these minutes will do you good. Watch the video Sometimes, vocabulary enrichment can occur while watching a variety of videos. We are talking about all kinds of quizzes, intellectual talk shows, documentary projects. Also, do not discount the special courses that contribute to the replenishment of the lexicon. Thus, you can not only have a good time, but also benefit your own self-development. Of course, it is important to distinguish worthwhile materials from unnecessary ones. For example, if you see on a TV program that the next youth reality show or a stupid action movie of the 90s with a corresponding translation is approaching, then it is better to devote time to something else, because such viewing will not only not benefit you, but can also harm . Note method You may find it very difficult for you to memorize new terms. In this situation, the already mentioned "note method" will help. Get a pack of stickers, then write a new word on one side of the piece of paper, and its meaning on the other. Now paste the stickers around the apartment. Now "difficult" words will constantly catch your eye, and you will be able to reread their meanings again and again until they are fully learned and included in your usual vocabulary. Write You will quickly learn the correct use of new expressions if you engage in writing activities. For this, of course, it is not necessary to be a writer - just set aside at least half an hour a day to write some small text. It can be a simple statement of your own thoughts on this or that occasion. For example, you can write what you dream about, what kind of people you dislike, what can delight you in another person, and the like. You can even write a multi-page article on a topic that interests you. When you start writing any text, you will have some time to think about your thoughts, thanks to which you will have the opportunity to learn how to correctly use new phrases, briefly inserting them into the text in the right place. Writing is definitely one of the creative activities that activates your mental potential. Naturally, this trains the brain remarkably, allowing you to recall words that you had practically never used in speech before.

What is the difference between the linguistic consciousness of our contemporary and, say, a contemporary of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin?

For almost fifteen years we have been working on compiling a complete associative dictionary of the Russian language. It turned out that the average young person of the XXI century actively owns about 32 thousand words. This is not only our "lexical minimum", but also a picture of linguistic verbal consciousness. We interviewed mainly young people, this is the contingent that is now becoming the most active in the life of society.

32 thousand words. This is much more than one would think by listening to the language spoken by teenagers on the street. Let me make a blasphemous comparison: Pushkin's dictionary consisted of about 22 thousand words.

Well, everything is simple with Pushkin. After all, only the words that the great poet used in his works were taken into account. A huge lexical array was left out of count.

Imagine the following situation: a graduate of the Pushkin Lyceum is talking to a student of some modern gymnasium. Do they understand each other?

The book "Pushkin's Dictionary and the Russian Language Ability" was included in the cycle of the award-winning works. I analyzed what would happen if a contemporary of Pushkin read, let's say, Makanin's story. To what extent has evolution taken our language away from Pushkin's? It turned out that almost everything was clear, except for those realities that were even impossible to predict in the 19th century. The fact that young people speak some special language, incomprehensible to a Russian person, is, excuse me, the machinations of journalists. Yes, there are many fashionable words in the vocabulary of young people. But they go out of use very quickly. We have explored the core of linguistic consciousness, the words with which a Russian person responds to the world around him.

- But the tongue-tiedness of young people is difficult to dispute.

In terms of the number of words, the dictionary of our contemporary is not inferior to previous generations. After all, if Ozhegov has 70 thousand words in his dictionary, this does not mean that there are people who use them all in their speech. For example, I can not boast of this. In addition, about 10 thousand words - such that a Russian person has never heard. Usually the vocabulary of young people is studied in a situation where they communicate in slang. But when, for example, a student from his "get-together", where he managed a hundred words, enters a wide language arena - answers an exam or gives you an interview - he acts as a full-fledged cultural heir to the language of his ancestors. Another thing is that the cultural background of the young is narrowed. A striking example: we ask for associations to the word "Rubicon". Answers: "Rubik's Cube", "Something military", "Name of the machine part". That is, on what occasion and by whom the words "The die is cast. The Rubicon has been crossed" were uttered by our respondents did not know.

We interviewed many native Russian speakers. Each received a questionnaire with a hundred words, to which he had to answer in writing with the first association that came to his mind. For example, the word "table" gives rise to associations: "round", "dining", "on four legs" and so on. As a result, the first stage of the survey covered five thousand people from various cities throughout Russia. The result was the first volume of the dictionary, which included 1300 stimulus words with the associations generated by them - five hundred each. At the second stage of the study, the words given in the answers were taken as stimuli. That is, it was necessary to come up with an association for the word "lunch". New chains unfolded: "lunch hour", "lunch break", "service". At the third stage, the stimuli were the words given in the answers of the second stage. But to crank it all out for the fourth time did not work. The words began to repeat themselves. There was no growth of new associations. So this figure came out - 32 thousand.

Now we can predict where our thought is going, what are the cultural priorities of young people.

is not a myth. At the time when I was at school, I did not know why we need such subjects as Russian literature. I was not interested in the classic books of Pushnikin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and other Russian classics. To the same extent, I did not understand such subjects as philosophy, rhetoric, the Tatar language (I live in Tatarstan). And only when you become an adult do you understand that such things as a rich vocabulary are very important for achieving success in life and play, if not the role of the main factor in victories, but this is another contribution of your parents to your future competitiveness. When we become adults, we are ready to pay big money for learning what we were taught in school for free.

Vocabulary Shakespeare according to philologists, it was 12 thousand words. In order to communicate more or less freely in English, you need to know and understand about 1000 words in the lexicon and know some set expressions and constructions. But this vocabulary will obviously not be enough to speak fluently and have a rich speech.

You need to improve your vocabulary

To express your thoughts well, you need to have a serious vocabulary. Many experts agree on this. It often happens that a successful person shows himself well in business, but at a business meeting he cannot connect a few words. How to improve vocabulary? There are different ways. Many advise you to read more diverse literature and thereby you indirectly increase your vocabulary and literacy and the quality of your oral speech.

By the way know a lot of interesting words and speak beautifully- it's not the same thing. Your vocabulary should be complemented by a broad outlook and knowledge, beautiful speech, expressiveness. Here it is worth paying attention to such a thing as rhetoric. They are taught to speak beautifully. Try to listen to other people, and also try to speak in public yourself. Your speech quality will improve very quickly.

Having a rich vocabulary you will become a stronger negotiator. This is a real business skill that exploits philology for capitalist purposes. You will really easier when you finally learn how to link together at least a few words, and not talk in abrupt sentences.

Ways to improve vocabulary

3. Read specialized and fiction, as well as non-fiction books. It doesn't hurt to study something from the non-fiction series

Sidebar: non fiction - nonfiction- This is a special genre of non-fiction, where the presentation is based on real events. Documentary prose. The amount of fiction in this genre is small and only needed to give more brightness to the presentation. The style of presentation is journalistic. The story is based on the words of eyewitnesses, based on real documents. The subjective view of the author can also be traced in documentary prose, which may not coincide with the generally accepted point of view.

4. Watch cultural St. Petersburg authors on Youtube. In general, the fact that in such cities as St. Petersburg, human capital is more developed, and therefore speech, is true. I watch Konstantin Zarutsky, a famous auto video blogger, and it turns out that familiar words can be used in very interesting formats. Recommend.

5. Each new word - type in google and see, what does it mean. This will help in the development of vocabulary. For example, I have just learned what non-fiction is and have become the owner of a slightly richer speech.

6. They say vocabulary can be upgraded by writing articles or by listening audiobooks. Useful for those who have a long commute to work. Player in your ears. I think that going to graduate school, starting to write a dissertation, or at least studying for a few years at a good university is a great way to expand your vocabulary.

7. Learning foreign languages also greatly expands your ability to speak beautifully, for example, using borrowing.

8. Use in speech new phrases, words and sayings. It is good to study poetry.

In the dry matter rich vocabulary is of great importance for a person and his success. This is an indicator of the intellectual and social level of your personality and your professionalism.

The richest and most beautiful Russian language makes it possible for people who speak it to express themselves in a variety of ways. The accuracy of wording and beautiful speech depend on the vocabulary that a person owns. The more words he uses, the more intellectually developed he is considered. Therefore, it becomes important to increase the number of words used.

According to the scientific vocabulary is called a lexicon, meaning words familiar to an individual, group or included in the language. It is conditionally divided into;

• Active. The first group includes words used every day. They are included in both written and spoken language. A sign of an active lexicon is free use that does not require additional effort.
• Passive. Passive words include understandable words that occur in various sources, but are not used in speech, or are used, but extremely rarely. They are used when necessary, but it takes effort to remember.
• External. The external lexicon denotes unknown words related to specific areas of knowledge. These are professional terms, neologisms and so on. It is hardly possible to draw clear boundaries between these groups. They are rather shaky and oscillate to one side or the other. With growing up and mental development, the vocabulary grows.

So, if a child going to the first grade speaks two thousand words, then in the last one this number already grows to five thousand. For those who study and develop further, the vocabulary reaches 10,000 words or more. Then most of them belong to the passive stock.

Erudite people sometimes own even 50,000 words. But, only a small part is used daily in communication. The rest of the lexicon is used only with intellectuals like it.

Vocabulary exercises

The following exercises are done in writing or orally.

• Nouns. They tell a little story using only nouns. "Day. Work. End. Output. Door. Key. Entrance. The car. Key. Ignition" and so on.
• Verbs. The same thing that was told using nouns is repeated, only with verbs.
• Adjectives and adverbs. Then comes the turn of other parts of speech.
• Alphabet. Come up with related words that sequentially begin with the letters of the alphabet in order. “Alena talks in the evening, walking up to the cherished spruce, gesticulating and eloquently cherishing lovely tender dandelions. Pasha follows nearby, dragging a comfortable chrome-plated lantern, often catching a nimble twittering with extravagant humorous language.
• Monophone. Make up your own speech, the words of which begin with one letter. Each of them is connected with each other, even if the meaning suffers.

It is not easy to complete each of the exercises. But the words gradually move from the passive lexicon to the active one and its replenishment takes place.

Lexicon expansion techniques without extra time

The development of vocabulary, in fact, is necessary for voicing your thoughts, intentions, analysis and conclusions. This skill is reinforced by practice and weakened by its absence. Therefore, in order to develop your speech, you should constantly communicate. Vocabulary growth is ensured: when learning new words that we hear from interlocutors; exact definitions when words are translated from a passive lexicon into an active one.

• Therefore, it is desirable to communicate with dissimilar people. These are friends, neighbors, fellow students, comrades in the gym. People you meet on the Internet in forums and social networking pages, fellow travelers and vendors also serve as an opportunity for communication and as a way to expand your speech.
• Another effective way to replenish your vocabulary, which does not require special time, is listening to audio books. This is relevant when you have to spend a lot of time on the road, driving your car, ideal for auditory people (for people who perceive information better by ear). A variety of books are sold in this format: novels, aphorisms, and philosophical teachings. Having recorded on a flash drive, you can now not be bored in a traffic jam, but listen to a fascinating story. It is convenient to listen to audio books before going to bed.

Replenishment of the lexicon with the allocation of time

The following activities will help you increase your vocabulary.

• Reading. Reading is the richest source of information. Books, newspapers, online publications, magazines - everywhere there are inexhaustible reserves of replenishment of the lexicon. It is advisable to set aside an hour a day for this exciting activity. Sometimes it's good to say the words out loud.
• Studying of foreign language. Do not limit your vocabulary to knowledge of one Russian language. Others are also useful to study. The more a person enriches his speech, the better connections are made, and the easier it is to recall words from memory.
• Games. There are interesting exciting linguistic games: charades, puzzles and the like. When they are guessed, they are involuntarily interested in words and meaning.
• Diary. Another useful activity is keeping a diary. When it is impossible to go to foreign language courses, they write for themselves. This is a good way to improve the vocabulary, as taking notes formulates thoughts that are in the emotional and motivational areas.
• Memorization. Memorization makes it possible to bring new words into the active stock. For this, there is a way of retelling what was heard, memorizing verses and definitions. It is one of the most effective methods of mastering new knowledge.

For this it is important:

• daily include new words in speech;
• use a notebook, entering intricate statements, words, phrases with clever expressions;
• learn the essence of new words by adding a visualization technique;
• memorize poems, quotes, sayings and so on.

To improve the vocabulary, conscious actions are needed. To achieve beautiful speech requires constant training. Ignoring new words will not give them a chance to get into the active or passive vocabulary. It turns out that those who want to expand their vocabulary and enrich their language should make regular strong-willed efforts for this.