What is the vocabulary of an adult. Vocabulary: optimal size and ways to increase

Great Russian! Studies by modern linguists show that it contains about two hundred thousand words. However, the average Russian uses no more than three thousand lexical constructions in everyday life. There are many methods for replenishing the Russian language. Get to know the most effective techniques improving the culture of speech can be in the article.

The book is an endless source of knowledge. Expanding vocabulary through reading, analyzing and memorizing information is one of the most effective methods of enriching speech. How to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language and what to read for this? It is necessary to study not only fiction, but also popular science, specialized literature of Russian and foreign authors, poetry. It is important to adhere to the following rules:

slow, thoughtful reading followed by text analysis;

concentration on new terms, turns, lexical constructions;

the practice of reading aloud, memorizing, or retelling a text.

Stumbling on unfamiliar word, you need to write it out in a separate notebook / notebook, pick up synonyms, memorize the interpretation and try to apply it in everyday life.

An extensive vocabulary is preceded by hard work. Masters of eloquence recommend paying attention to development in oneself oratory skills. Every erudite person should have the ability to clearly formulate thoughts, describe events richly or retell in detail recently read information. Active application of the studied material (in this case new words) - a guarantee of the richness of speech: in a conversation, in correspondence or during a speech, one should express thoughts, carefully choosing the best words.

Among the tips on how to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language, exercises on writing your own text are especially effective. For example, you can take a notebook and a pen, or open a text editor on your computer and just start writing. It is important to try to endure own feelings on paper, learn to describe events in detail or tell a story. Alternatively, you can start journaling or start a virtual diary - daily practice as a writer, it will allow to stir up the brain and make it "dig" in its own lexical baggage.

“Well”, “like”, “as if” and long pauses “uh-uh” in an instant betray a person with a meager vocabulary. Such constructions pollute human speech, deprive it of information content and beauty.

Specialized textbooks that study the etymology of words can open up new horizons mother tongue. You can use both classic volumes from Dahl or Ozhegov, or use online services to learn new words. It is noteworthy that explanatory dictionaries, in addition to interpretation, also contain examples of the use of the term in context, which allows it to be included in the active lexicon.

An obligatory item in working with a dictionary is the transfer of unknown terms into a separate notebook. It is important to review your notes from time to time. Perfectly copes with the task of replenishing the vocabulary of the Russian language with a list of words located in a conspicuous place. Placing stickers with terms in the workplace, refrigerator or mirror engages in the learning process new vocabulary visual memory. Do not neglect didactic cards: a word is written on one side, and its definition on the other.

Beginning linguists: tricks of learning your native language

Solving word puzzles.Crossword, scrabble, boggle or cranium - picking up a game to your liking, you can not only have great fun, but also expand your vocabulary, learn to think critically.

Regular training is the key to success. If the daily “load” is 3 words, then in a month the vocabulary will increase by 90, and in a year - by 1080 words!

Secret from the serieswhich is neglected by many islistening to audiobooks, podcasts, lectures and public speaking figures of culture and science.ATabout cleaning or commutingsuch activities contribute to the enrichmentlexicallywowbaggagea.

How to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language for a student and a child?

Speech abilities in children are formed by the age of five: upon reaching this age, the baby should be able to use various designs complex sentences, to possess the skills of word formation and inflection, to have sufficient vocabulary. Lack of communication, ignoring reading, violations in pronunciation are factors that lead to the fact that the child has a passive knowledge of speech.

The application of methods of expanding lexical baggage for adults to children is ineffective. The following rules from teachers, speech therapists and neuropsychologists will come to the rescue: they shared the secrets of how to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language in childhood.

No confusion! If a child calls mittens gloves and plates saucers, it makes sense to help the child see the differences between these items through visual analysis. For example, by drawing things that cause confusion, examine them in detail and highlight the differences.

Verbal connection. The game of association allows the child to develop abstract thinking. For example, the kid should pick up several nouns, adjectives and verbs (preferably synonymous) for the word “guitar”: “music” and “sound”, “voiced” and “loud”, “plays” and “strums”.

Hidden meaning. Concrete thinking is inherent in children up to 7 years old, later they begin to catch the "messages" of the author and learn to read "between the lines". Develop the ability to understand figurative sense discussion of proverbs and sayings helps.

Reading and communication. Important aspects in the question of how to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language for a baby, communication and reading skills are. You should always listen to the child, and also do not forget to instill in him a love of literature.

How to quickly replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language? Use all of the above methods in a complex. It is important to remember that success is achieved only through hard work, and those who are ready to constantly work on themselves become erudite and developed individuals.

The fact that the dictionary of a language contains approximately 300,000 words is only of theoretical interest to a beginner in learning that language. Almost main principle for the reasonable organization of their studies, especially on initial stage is the economy of words. You need to learn how to remember less words but do it the best you can.

We emphasize that our approach is directly opposite to the leading principle of "suggestopedia", with its emphasis on the abundance of words presented to the student. As you know, in accordance with its canons, a beginner needs to be literally "showered with words." It is best to ask him or her 200 new words every day.

Is there any doubt that any normal person will forget all those numerous words with which he was "showered" by such, so to speak, method - and most likely very soon, in just a few days.

Don't chase too much

It will be much better if, at the end of a certain stage of the lesson, you know 500 or 1000 words very well than 3000 - but poorly. Don't be fooled by educators who will tell you that you must first learn a certain number of words in order to "get on with it." Only you yourself can and should decide whether the vocabulary you have mastered is sufficient for your goals and interests.

The experience of learning languages shows that about 400 correctly chosen words can cover up to 90 percent of the vocabulary that you need for the purposes of everyday communication. To read, you need more words, but many of them are only passive. Therefore, with the knowledge of 1500 words, you can already understand quite meaningful texts.

It is better to master the most necessary and important words for you than to constantly rush to learn new ones. "He who chases too much runs the risk of missing everything," says a Swedish proverb. “If you chase two hares, you won’t catch one,” a Russian proverb answers her.

Vocabulary in oral speech

Speaking very approximately, about 40 well-chosen, high-frequency words will cover about 50% of word usage in everyday speech in any language;

200 words will cover about 80%;
300 words - approximately 85%;
400 words will cover about 90%;
well, 800-1000 words - about 95% of what you need to say or hear in the most common situation.

Thus, a well-chosen vocabulary helps to understand quite a lot with very modest effort spent on cramming.

Example: if a total of 1000 words are spoken in everyday conversation, then 500 of them, that is, 50%, will be covered by 40 most common high-frequency words.

We emphasize that these percentages, of course, are not the result of exact calculations. They just give the most general concept about how many words it would take to feel confident when entering into the simplest dialogue with a native speaker. In any case, there is no doubt that by choosing correctly from 400 to 800 words and remembering them well, you can feel confident in a simple conversation, since they will cover almost all 100% of those words that you can’t do without. Of course, under other, less favorable conditions, 400 words will cover only 80% of what you need to know - instead of 90 or 100%.

Vocabulary while reading

When reading, by correctly choosing and remembering well about 80 of the most common, most frequent words, you will understand about 50% of a simple text;

200 words will cover approximately 60%;
300 words - 65%;
400 words - 70%;
800 words - approximately 80%;
1500 - 2000 words - about 90%;
3000 - 4000 - 95%;
and 8,000 words will cover almost 99 percent of the written text.

Example: if you have a text of about 10 thousand words in front of you (this is about 40 printed pages), then, having learned the most necessary 400 words in advance, you will understand about 7000 words that are used in this text.

Note again that the figures we give are indicative only. Depending on various additional conditions, 50 words will cover up to 50 percent of the written text, but in other cases you will need to learn at least 150 words to get the same result.

Vocabulary: 400 to 100,000 words

400 - 500 words - active vocabulary for language proficiency at a basic (threshold) level.
800 - 1000 words - active vocabulary for explaining yourself; or passive vocabulary for reading at a basic level.
1500 - 2000 words - an active vocabulary, which is quite enough to provide everyday communication during the whole day; or a passive vocabulary sufficient for confident reading.
3000 - 4000 words - in general, it is enough for practically free reading of newspapers or literature in the specialty.
About 8000 words - provide full communication for the average European. It is practically not necessary to know more words in order to communicate freely both orally and in writing, as well as to read literature of any kind.
10,000-20,000 words is the active vocabulary of an educated European (in their native language).
50,000-100,000 words - the passive vocabulary of an educated European (in their native language).

It should be noted that the stock of words by itself does not yet ensure free communication. However, by mastering 1,500 well-chosen words, with some extra practice, you will be able to communicate almost fluently.

As for professional terms, they usually do not present any particular difficulties, since in most cases this is an international vocabulary that is easy enough to master.

When you already know about 1500 words, you can start reading at a fairly decent level. With a passive knowledge of 3,000 to 4,000 words, you will be fluent in reading literature in your specialty, at least in those areas where you are confidently oriented. In conclusion, we note that, according to calculations carried out by linguists on the material of a number of languages, the average educated European actively uses about 20,000 words (and half of them - quite rarely). At the same time, the passive vocabulary is at least 50,000 words. But all this concerns the native language.

Basic vocabulary

AT pedagogical literature you can find the terminological combination "basic vocabulary". From my point of view, at the maximum level, the vocabulary is about 8000 words. I think that learning large quantity words, except perhaps for some special purpose, are hardly necessary. Eight thousand words will be enough for full communication in any conditions.

When starting to learn a language, it would be wise to do more short lists. Here are three levels that I have found in practice to give a good guide to the beginner:

level A("basic vocabulary"):

400-500 words. They are enough to cover about 90% of all word usage in everyday oral communication, or about 70% of a simple written text;

level B("minimum vocabulary", "mini-level"):

800-1000 words. They are enough to cover about 95% of all word usage in everyday oral communication, or about 80-85% of written text;

level B("medium vocabulary", "medium level"):

1500-2000 words. They are enough to cover approximately 95-100% of all word usage in everyday oral communication, or about 90% of written text.

An example of a good dictionary of the main vocabulary can be considered a dictionary published by E. Klett in Stuttgart, 1971, entitled "Grundwortschatz Deutsch" ("Basic Vocabulary Fund German language"). It gives 2000 of the most necessary words in each of six selected languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.

Eric W. Gunnemark, Swedish polyglot

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 relating 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. When growing up and mental development vocabulary is growing.

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 are passive reserve.

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, which sequentially start with 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; precise definitions when words are translated from the passive lexicon to the active one.

Therefore, it is desirable to communicate with dissimilar people. These are friends, neighbors, fellow students, comrades in the gym. People meeting on the Internet on forums and pages social networks, fellow travelers and vendors also serve as an opportunity for communication and as a way to expand your speech.
Another effective way replenish vocabulary, which does not require special time - 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.
Study of foreign language. Do not limit your vocabulary to knowledge of one Russian language. Others are also useful to study. How more people enriches his speech, the better connections are provided, and it is easier 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. One more useful activity- keeping a diary. When it is impossible to go to foreign language courses, they write for themselves. This is good way improve the vocabulary, as by taking notes, they formulate thoughts that are in the emotional and motivational spheres.
Memorization. Memorization makes it possible to introduce new words into 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. For achievement beautiful speech constant training is required. 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 take regular volitional efforts.

which the person owns.

Classification [ | ]

There are two types of vocabulary: active and passive.

Active vocabulary includes the words a person uses in oral speech and letter.

Passive Vocabulary includes words that a person recognizes by reading or listening, but does not use them himself in speaking and writing. The passive vocabulary is usually several times larger than the active one.

human vocabulary[ | ]

Russian language [ | ]

In Russian literary language about 500 thousand roots, and dozens of words derived from them. "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language" by V. I. Dahl has about 200 thousand words. Most common words, according to "" edited, are about 30 thousand words, and highest frequency have a little more than 6 thousand words, covering more than 90% of the texts processed when compiling this dictionary.

However, the "alphabetic-frequency index to Lenin's PSS" has a controversial [ ] calculation method, as well as vocabulary language of A. S. Pushkin. For example, in the PSS of V. I. Lenin: anarchist, anarchist, anarchist, minister-clown, absolutely necessary, parliamentary-impeccable, communist parliamentarian, socialist parliamentarian, etc. are taken into account in the calculation. The same "method" is used by Pushkin's Dictionary of Language. For example, "leaf", "leaf", "leaf", "leaf"; "king" and "king-cannon" are counted as individual words.

English language [ | ]

According to dictionaries Webster (Third International Dictionary) and Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition, 1993), English has 470 thousand words.

But some researchers argue that when counting English words it is necessary to take into account all neologisms, including words from Internet blogs and other unofficial resources, as well as words used only in varieties in English for example in China and Japan.

« Vocabulary William Shakespeare, according to researchers, is 12,000 words. The vocabulary of a Negro from the cannibalistic tribe "Mumbo Yumbo" is 300 words. Ellochka Shchukina easily and freely managed thirty ... "

Are you short of words to properly express your thoughts? If you are faced with the question "?", This article will be useful to you.

AT modern world, a beautiful and rich speech speaks of culture and good education. Rich Russian vocabulary indicates the level intellectual development person. Society perceives a person with a rich vocabulary as smart and creative personality. People with a rich vocabulary get jobs faster, move up the corporate ladder more successfully, and are generally listened to more often and more carefully. The more human vocabulary the more likely he is to succeed in life.

The following recommendations will help you to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language:

Methods, methods and techniques for increasing vocabulary

Think about which of the banal, hackneyed, hackneyed words and expressions you used to use daily in standard situations communication. Write them down on a piece of paper. Recorded? Now take it off the shelf dictionary or a dictionary of synonyms. Find these words that are already hurting your own ears and that you are tired of hearing every day. Explore long list alternatives and say each of these words aloud. Which one reflects your personality? Which one suits you personally? Try each one as you try on a suit and see which ones you find comfortable and cozy. Choose a few of these words and practice saying them out loud until they become a natural part of your vocabulary;
Communication is the main source of replenishment of human vocabulary.During the conversation, each participant replenishes his vocabulary from the arsenal of the interlocutor, there is a word exchange between them. Talk to your friends, acquaintances, relatives as much as possible. Use new words in your vocabulary, knowledge about a word is nothing without using it;
Read reading books is good. Start with those authors who are more understandable and close to your interests. Gradually add literature harder. Text where they meet interesting words and the expressions that you want to remember and apply in the future, re-read aloud (reading to ourselves, we also replenish our vocabulary, but not so quickly, because in this way we only see the words, while reading aloud, we also we hear and, most importantly, we pronounce, therefore we remember better);
When you spot a new word, don't just look up its definition in the dictionary. Pay attention to the turn of speech in which this word is used, try to replace it for yourself with the corresponding synonym. Try to rhyme, come up with as many suitable phrases as possible. The more you know about a word, the faster you will learn to use it without complicating your memory. This will immediately affect the beauty and personality of your speech;
Write. Rewrite other people's articles and your favorites literary works following the example of Demosthenes, who rewrote Thucydides' History eight times in a row.
Crossword puzzles are not just entertainment, but also a way vocabulary development. Use this opportunity on the road, on vacation. Choose crossword puzzles from well-known publications or those that have a good reputation;
For those who spend a lot of time on the road, driving or have absolutely no free time, there is a unique opportunity to use books and dictionaries. develop your speech and increase your vocabulary through audiobooks. Similar way will also be acceptable to an audience that perceives better by ear. In any case, while away the time in traffic jams reading good literature is much more useful and effective for your development.

Ways to memorize new words