100 basic words of the English language. How many English words do you need to know to speak fluently

Rich vocabulary is the basic condition for mastering a foreign language. It is necessary not only to talk with its native speakers, but also to be able to effectively study it, improve the level and quality of your knowledge, for example, by working with original, unadapted literature.

How many words a day you can learn: myths and reality

The advertising content of all kinds of sites created for learning foreign languages ​​on your own, as well as informational banners of language schools, are full of information about the emergence of super technologies that allow you to learn a language in a few days.

To everyone's chagrin, the presented "technologies" are nothing more than long-known ways of learning a foreign language.

And the main one is regular repetition:

1. Make a list of words to memorize;
2. Read it carefully;
3. Leave the list for 20 minutes and do other things;
4. Repeat the cycle 7 times.

The most effective time of day for memorization is the evening, the time before going to bed. In a dream, the brain, not distracted by third-party thought processes, translates words from fast to long memory.

Is it realistic to learn 50-200 words a day?

From a theoretical point of view, it is real. It takes about 25 minutes to read 100 words. To repeat them 7 times, after reading - about 175 more minutes (3 hours).

But since it is necessary to pause between repetitions, also equal to about 20 minutes, the total time required to memorize 100 foreign words per day will be 7 hours.

If you have so much free time that you can devote to thoughtful repetition of English words - then it is likely that it is realistic for you to learn from 50 to 200 words a day.

However, you should also pay attention to the following fact: the average person is able to remember from 5 to 10 words a day.

Thus, you should not just be not burdened with work and any extraneous worries, but a person, you should always be a free child prodigy, with a phenomenal memory.

Moreover, after such experiments, you may develop a negative attitude towards English: it is unlikely that you will experience positive emotions from trying to master such a volume of knowledge.

In this regard, learning 50-200 foreign words a day is unrealistic.

And if you expand your vocabulary by memorizing not individual words, but whole phrases and sentences, the maximum number of structures learned per day will be about 5.

An insignificant figure, of course, but if you calculate the number of words learned per month, it will be about 450 words (if you memorize constructions of 3 words).

A Few Principles for Effective Vocabulary Growth

There are many methods for learning foreign words to expand vocabulary. Some of them have been known for a long time and do not lose their popularity due to their high efficiency, and some have come into the field of education quite recently.

Consider the most effective of them:

1. Get a personal dictionary in which you will write down the words you learn. Divide the vocabulary into two levels: simple and complex words. In the process of memorization, subjectively assign a particular level to a word and write it down in the appropriate section. This will help to more effectively approach the process of learning foreign words.
2. Use cards. You can lay them out on your desktop, hang them around the apartment at eye level, or purposefully teach them at a set time.
3. Read a lot. This will fix the learned words in long-term memory.
4. Use specialized textbooks, which are written specifically for the purpose of expanding the student's vocabulary.
5. Make mind maps. This technique is nothing more than a thematic grouping of words. However, the inherent clarity of the method significantly increases its effectiveness over the same type of classical methods.
6. Get yourself a pen-friend and expand your vocabulary with him. Basically, when communicating, people use words from common use. And the desire to tell a friend about your hobbies will encourage you to learn new words.
7. Download apps to your mobile device to be able to regularly repeat words in a free minute.
8. Use game services which will help you learn words online.
9. Learn your favorite or popular foreign songs. Songs for learning English contribute to the formation of phonetic skills in students, the development of phonemic hearing, as well as simplifying the process of learning the rules for pronouncing foreign sounds. Also, the study and understanding of the intonation of the song contributes to the formation of auditory skills in the perception of foreign speech.

For example, games:

1. Bank Robber- designed to expand vocabulary and train memory. The main task is to guess the word before the bank robbery happens.
2. memory game- develops vocabulary and visual memory. The main task is to remember the location of the object and guess it when the cards cover all the cells.

What words to learn in English?

Preferences, in the formation of your vocabulary, should be based on the goal of learning the language:

• If you wish to speak fluently in a foreign language with native speakers- study everyday words, as well as dialectisms inherent in the representatives of the region or country you like.
• If you want to learn a language for working abroad, communicating with business partners, studying at a foreign university, you need to memorize professional vocabulary in addition to everyday words.

In this way:

• If your goal is to learn a language to communicate with foreign friends, Feel free to use the information available on the World Wide Web.
• If you need professional vocabulary, then it is desirable to compile a methodological manual for learning the language on your own. In any case, your work will not go to waste, regular repetition of words, in the process of sampling them, will allow them to be learned much faster.

It is also worth noting that many companies personally create dictionaries with a set of words, phrases or phrases necessary for work. Contact the company where you want to work. It is possible that they will gladly provide you with this information.

The most important words in English

The most important words in any language are common words. Their list includes both pronouns, articles and prepositions, as well as nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Linguists and psychologists have compiled more than one list of the most common words in the English language, divided into parts of speech.

However, you shouldn't mindlessly memorize lists of "top" words from the everyday life of English-speaking people. It is much more important to learn how to use them in speech.

Therefore, select a speech construction for each word that will reflect the features of its use with one or another part of speech.

Basic words:

• Pronouns- I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them
• Articles-the, a/an
• Prepositions- to, for, of, out, from, with, over, at, up, but
• Adverbs about, now, just, not
• Unions- and
• Verbs- get, was, is, have, don`t, do, are, went, can, would, go, think, say, be, see, know, tell

How to turn learning English into a habit?

Scientists have proven that it takes 21 days to form a habit. In this regard, in order for daily vocabulary replenishment to become a habit for you, akin to brushing your teeth in the morning, you need to learn at least one English word during the 21st day.

Of course, the generalized amount recommended for the study of foreign words is from 5 to 10 words per day. In this case, your vocabulary will grow rapidly and in a few months you will be able to master the required minimum vocabulary - about 100-150 words of each part of speech.

However, there are times when there is absolutely no time to learn a language. But do not leave the idea for later, it is enough to learn at least 1 word every day so that the habit is formed.

If you find it difficult to force yourself to learn 5-10 words a day at once, start small - learn 1, 2 words a day, and then gradually increase the load. Then it will be easier for the body to get used to the new regime, and for you to cope with the psychological barrier.

How not to lose the acquired knowledge?

For the English language, as for any other, the most important rule for success is regular practice.

1. Reading books in English. When your vocabulary is large enough, prefer modern foreign literature to domestic;
2. Live communication with native speakers. Travel as often as possible to English-speaking countries, or communicate with friends via Skype, or correspondence;

Thus, the secret of replenishing the vocabulary of any foreign language is very simple - regularity and consistency.

No technique will help you learn a language in a few days. Just like you learned your native language by learning word by word and then linking them into sentences.

Of course, the basis of the language system is grammar, but without a well-established lexical base, knowledge of grammatical norms is unlikely to be useful to a beginner anywhere. Therefore, we will devote today's lesson to replenishing vocabulary and mastering methods for quickly memorizing new vocabulary. There will be quite a lot of expressions in the material, so we recommend that you divide these English words for learning for each day in advance, working through 2-3 dozen new phrases and be sure to repeat the examples already studied. Before moving on to practice, let's find out how it is recommended to learn foreign words correctly.

Learning vocabulary is half the battle, it is also important to try to constantly apply it, otherwise it will simply be forgotten. Therefore, the main principle of learning English words is not to strive to memorize absolutely all the words encountered. In modern English, there are about 1.5 million words and set combinations. Learning everything is simply unrealistic, so try to choose only the most used and necessary vocabulary for you personally.

Suppose you have already decided on your area of ​​​​interest, picked up the necessary lexical material and began to learn it. But things are not moving forward: words are slowly remembered and quickly forgotten, and each lesson turns into unimaginable boredom and a painful struggle with oneself. Here are some tips that will help you create the right learning environment and learn a foreign language easily and effectively.

1. Combine words by meaning, creating thematic dictionaries: animals, pronouns, action verbs, communication in a restaurant, etc.. Generalized groups are more easily deposited in memory, forming a kind of associative block.
2. Try different ways to learn words until you find the method that works best for you. These can be popular cards, and interactive online simulators, and stickers pasted on various objects in the house, and applications for tablets and phones. If you perceive information better visually and aurally, then actively use educational videos and audio recordings. You can learn by any means, the main thing is that the learning process should be a pleasant pastime, and not a boring duty.
3. Just memorize how the word is pronounced. To do this, you must either refer to transcription, or use interactive resources. The program for learning the pronunciation of English words will not only help you remember the sound of an expression, but also check how correctly you pronounce it.
4. Do not throw away the words you have already learned. This is very important point. It seems to us that if we learn words for a long time, then we remember them once and for all. But memory tends to delete unclaimed information. Therefore, if you do not have constant speaking practice, replace it with regular repetitions. You can create your own notebook with days and repetitions, or use one of the interactive English learning apps.

Having worked through these tips, let's do a little practice. We bring to the attention of students the most popular vocabulary of the English language. These English words are suitable for learning for every day, as they are divided into several tables and presented in the form of small semantic groups. So, let's start replenishing our vocabulary.

Let'slearnsomewords!

English words to learn every day

If you want to take the first step in English, we recommend that you first learn the 100 most important English words, which, according to research by linguists, are the most frequently used words in the English language.

Lexicologists have been and are still doing work on calculating the most common words in the English language in order to make life easier for everyone who studies English. They carry out this work by analyzing various English lyrics. Scientists have even created the so-called code of texts of the English language (Oxford English Corpus), which includes billions of written English texts. After analyzing all this material with the help of modern computing technologies, they made a "squeeze" in the form of a hundred of the most frequently used words. It is these words that are recommended to learn first of all!

We, in turn, have finalized this dictionary hundred, adding to each word a translation, pronunciation, a brief comment and examples.

LEARN BASIC ENGLISH WORDS

How to learn new English words without cramming and boring exercises? We offer you several interesting sites for memorizing English words, where you can expand your vocabulary for free and even ... help those in need without spending a single penny from your personal funds. How to do it? Read below.

Useful selection: 5 sites for learning English words

An interesting resource is a site for English learners, which contains hundreds of colorful visual thematic collections of flash cards that will be understandable even for beginners. A section for learning new words can be found at the following link.

In addition, a variety of tests for learners of English are presented. Beginners will be interested in vocabulary tests, which are also presented in the form of colorful flash cards. For higher levels, the site has exercises for finding synonyms and antonyms for words, testing knowledge of all forms irregular verbs, as well as testing vocabulary for those who are preparing to take exams.

On this simple and beautiful resource, you can work not only with vocabulary, but also improve grammar, listening, speaking and reading at the same time. All skills need to be developed at the same time, and you can do it on the same site.

Pay attention to - a site for learning English words, extremely easy to use, but no less interesting. In the First words subsection, words for levels and are divided by subject. Most of the exercises are presented in the form of a visual dictionary. The advantage is that you are not given a translation into Russian, so an association will arise in your memory: a certain picture is associated with a word in English. Many linguists believe that this way of studying vocabulary is the most productive, since in doing so you give up the habit of mentally translating a word into Russian from English: a certain image will be clearly associated with a specific word.

In addition to visual exercises, you will find no less interesting developing tasks for finding synonyms and antonyms for a word, as well as tasks-questions that test your knowledge of the vocabulary of a particular topic. There are also exercises on the use of prepositions, on breaking down words into various categories, filling in missing words in dialogues, excluding an extra word from a group of concepts, etc. All tasks are fascinating, varied, presented simply and clearly.

The Harder words subsection is for level and above. Here the tasks are no less varied and interesting. There is a visual dictionary and a choice the right word in offers. In addition, here you will find an unusual task for finding errors when replacing one word with another that is similar in sound (a phenomenon called malapropism).

In both subsections there are special exercises aimed at practicing vocabulary. In them, you are given 15-20 words to study and 15 different tasks aimed at practicing these words. We advise you not to go through all 15 exercises in one sitting: “stretch” them over three days for 5 tasks. Thus, during this time you will thoroughly fix the new vocabulary in memory.

In addition to these sections, on the site you will find exercises for learning phrasal verbs, idioms and proverbs, a variety of grammar tests and informative articles for learners of English.

Do you think that learning words on cards is the last century? On the site you can find flash cards in electronic form and learn English words online: progressively and conveniently. You are offered three stages of learning new words:

• At first, you just look at the words and try to remember them by associating them with the picture.
• Then they show you a picture for a while, and you try to remember the word.
• At the third stage, you test your knowledge: write a word in English next to the picture.

The exercise is quite simple, but for beginners this is exactly what you need.

On the same site, in the Mistakes section, you can work on exercises with words that are often confused in English, for example, any and some, borrow and lend, etc. On the Word Games page, you will find a variety of games to expand and develop vocabulary: crosswords, memory games (memory training games), unusual sea battle, etc.

In general, the resource is simple even for beginners, the graphics are somewhat outdated, but you will not be distracted by beautiful pictures with cats while working with the dictionary. :-)

Not as colorful as the previous ones, very useful for learning English. It has several sections for learning the most common words, as well as sections with colloquial phrases where you can learn new words in context. The site is suitable even for beginners: you need to mark Russian in the list of languages, then you will see instructions in your native language and translations of words and phrases. "Continuing" you can try to deal with the English version of the site. In this case, the meaning of unfamiliar words can be found in the English-English dictionary, just click on the word you need to get help.

On the site you will find the 1500 Most Common English Words and Vocabulary section. It will help you expand your vocabulary. All words are voiced by native speakers, learn them and repeat after the speaker.

After that, go to the 1000 Most Common English Phrases section. Here you can learn new words in context. All phrases are voiced by native speakers, and the recordings are presented in two versions: with normal speed and in slow motion. You can sort them by subject, for example, if you are preparing for a trip, select the phrases of the desired subject and study them.

Then go to the "100 Free Lessons" section. It is presented in the form of short dialogues on various topics. You can take phrases from there and memorize them: they will definitely come in handy in the future. Dialogues are also recorded in normal and slow motion: listen and repeat. You can listen to each phrase separately and try to pronounce it in the same way as the announcer.

The most unusual of all resources. Let's say right away that it will not work for beginners, but from the Pre-Intermediate level you can try to practice on it. Here you are given only one exercise: you must indicate what this or that word means, while offering four possible answers. That is, in fact, you need to find a synonym for the word.

What is the "feature" of this game? All the salt lies in the so-called "reward". For each correct answer, you "earn" 10 grains of rice. At the end of the game, the sponsors of the site recalculate the amount of grains earned into a monetary equivalent and transfer this amount of funds to the account of the World Food Program - the largest organization providing humanitarian assistance to the starving (usually African countries). The motto of the site is “Play and feed hungry people” - “Play and feed hungry people”.

Let's reveal all the cards at once: according to the estimates of foreign experts, the approximate amount of money that you can earn for the hungry in 10 minutes of the game is only ... 3 cents. Yes, a little, but if millions of people play this way?

Summing up, we can say that this is not the best resource for charity, but you can combine pleasant and useful: practice vocabulary and help those in need a little.

These are not all sites for memorizing English words. In future articles, we will continue to share useful links with you. However, words can be learned not only online, but also offline. In the article "" we talked in detail about how to learn new English words. Get busy and hone your knowledge. And in the article "" you can learn about good benefits for increasing vocabulary.