Why our test now includes words that don't exist
Since 10 September, some words in the test are made up. Why we added them, how they keep results honest, and what happened in the first days.
Blog
Passive and active vocabulary: why you understand more words than you use
The difference between the words you understand and the words you use, why the gap is bigger in a second language, and how to close it.
How fast does vocabulary grow, and how long does 1,000 words take?
Why vocabulary grows quickly at first and slower later, what that means for learners, and a realistic timeline for learning 1,000 new words.
7 ways to learn English vocabulary faster
Seven habits that research backs up: what to learn first, how to review, why reading does most of the work, and why phrases beat single words.
How many words do you need for each English level?
Rough vocabulary sizes for levels A1 to C2, how many words it takes to read and listen comfortably, and why different sources give different numbers.
How many words does a native English speaker know?
Around 40,000, according to the best research we have. But the answer depends a lot on what you count as a word and what it means to know one.
TestVocab is live
A free test that estimates how many English words you know. It takes a few minutes and the instructions are available in 11 languages.
