Ask Expert Teacher: Do You Know the 100 Most Common Words in English?
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There are many strategies and philosophies about the best way to learn a language. But no matter how you do it, one thing is certain: All languages are made up of words. If you know the most important words in the language and how to use them, you will be able to communicate well.
I’ll give you an example of what I’m talking about. When I was a university student, I spent 6 weeks studying French in a summer immersion program in Chicoutimi, Quebec. The main language of that city is French. It was difficult to find an English speaker up there.
My goal was to be able to communicate with native speakers in French by the time I finished.
I went to Chicoutimi with a vocabulary of around 50 basic words in French. I promised myself that during school hours I would limit myself to only those words and not speak English. It forced two things to happen:
1. I got to know those words very well and was able to learn how to use them in sentences to express myself.
2. I found the word limitation frustrating and it made me expand my vocabulary a little bit every day, or I would not have been able to do things I wanted to do.
The Importance of Vocabulary
So, the result was that I used my limited vocabulary every day and I increased my vocabulary every day. Yes, I panicked every time I had to buy a cup of tea, order a pizza, or ask the bus driver a question. But, I kept trying – and failing – and trying again.
In the beginning I used a lot of one word sentences and incomplete sentences, but I just kept practicing and soon developed the skill to speak in short complete sentences. I made mistakes and I made note of the corrections. Then I practiced using the new corrected sentences.
By the end of the 6 weeks I was having arguments with people on the issue of Quebec separating from Canada.
The key to this system was 3 things:
1. Absolute determination to speak the language fluently
2. Using and expanding my vocabulary
3. Following my interests
Number 3 is very important. I’ve seen so many people try to learn a language by giving themselves an intensive program that they start well, but stop after a week or two. They force themselves to learn the language in ways that are unnatural for them. This might work for some people, but for most of us it is counterproductive.
When I was in Quebec, I read the sports section of the newspaper, I listened to Quebec pop music and watched comedies on TV. I kept my dictionary with me all the time and I just kept looking up words I didn’t understand. I didn’t look up all the words I didn’t understand because that would have been impractical.
I knew other students who memorized lists of words. I also did this because it is very useful. But, the added part of this strategy is to use the words you are learning, and not just memorize them. I used those words when I spoke to people and wrote sentences with the new words, just for the sake of practicing my writing.
I was in an immersion program and I know most of you don’t have this opportunity right now. But, you can still try and follow the principles of what I’m talking about in a way that is suitable for you.
How to Improve Your English
If you want to improve your English, dedicate a certain amount of time every day to only use English.
You might feel like you don’t have time for this. Well, just consider that even 10 minutes a day is better than 0 minutes a day. You might be surprised by how much you will improve just by dedicating 10 minutes a day. If you can do it for 30 minutes or one hour a day, or more, that is also great. But don’t wait until you have a large amount of time free. Start immediately.
Read something in English every day; listen to a podcast every day. Look up words you don’t know. Write sentences using the words you already know and the words you just learned. Just keep doing it every day. You can do this.
If you are reading this blog or listening to this podcast right now, it shows that you have some interest in learning English. Just keep doing it. Keep practicing. Find a native speaker to talk to, find an English teacher to correct your mistakes and you will be fluent in no time.
It doesn’t have to be too complicated. Whatever you enjoy doing in your own language, do that in English. It’s okay to enjoy what you are learning. In fact, enjoying what you learn is a highly effective way to learn.
So, now I’m going to give you a list of the 100 most common words in written English and in Spoken English. Consider this list your base of learning. Make sure you know all the words on this list; practice them, use them in different situations, and then each day add new words to your list.
Good luck! And I hope you have fun with it.
| The 100 Most Common Written Words in English | The 100 Most Common Spoken Words in English |
| 1. the
2. of 3. and 4. a 5. to 6. in 7. is 8. you 9. that 10. it 11. he 12. was 13. for 14. on 15. are 16. as 17. with 18. his 19. they 20. I 21. at 22. be 23. this 24. have 25. from 26. or 27. one 28. had 29. by 30. word 31. but 32. not 33. what 34. all 35. were 36. we 37. when 38. your 39. can 40. said 41. there 42. use 43. an 44. each 45. which 46. she 47. do 48. how 49. their 50. if 51. will 52. up 53. other 54. about 55. out 56. many 57. then 58. them 59. these 60. so 61. some 62. her 63. would 64. make 65. like 66. him 67. into 68. time 69. has 70. look 71. two 72. more 73. write 74. go 75. see 76. number 77. no 78. way 79. could 80. people 81. my 82. than 83. first 84. water 85. been Your ads will be inserted here by Easy AdSense. Please go to the plugin admin page to paste your ad code. 86. call 87. who 88. oil 89. its 90. now 91. find 92. long 93. down 94. day 95. did 96. get 97. come 98. made 99. may 100. part |
1. a, an
2. after 3. again 4. all 5. almost 6. also 7. always 8. and 9. because 10. before 11. big 12. but 13. (I) can 14. (I) come 15. either/or 16. (I) find 17. first 18. for 19. friend 20. from 21. (I) go 22. good 23. goodbye 24. happy 25. (I) have 26. he 27. hello 28. here 29. how 30. I 31. (I) am 32. if 33. in 34. (I) know 35. last 36. (I) like 37. little 38. (I) love 39. (I) make 40. many 41. one 42. more 43. most 44. much 45. my 46. new 47. no 48. not 49. now 50. of 51. often 52. on 53. one 54. only 55. or 56. other 57. our 58. out 59. over 60. people 61. place 62. please 63. same 64. (I) see 65. she 66. so 67. some 68. sometimes 69. still 70. such 71. (I) tell 72. thank you 73. that 74. the 75. their 76. them 77. then 78. there is 79. they 80. thing 81. (I) think 82. this 83. time 84. to 85. under 86. up 87. us 88. (I) use 89. very 90. we 91. what 92. when 93. where 94. which 95. who 96. why 97. with 98. yes 99. you 100. your |
(from fourhourworkweek.com by Tim Ferris)
- Sidhartha Desai, www.ExpertEnglishTeacher.com
You may also want to take a look at the Dolch list, which contains 220 basic English words.
http://www.rong-chang.com/dolchlist.htm
Comment by Ron — August 30, 2009 @ 19:03
This is really amazing information which was overlooked and not focused at all.
Comment by vocabexperts — December 14, 2010 @ 02:27