Vocabulary

“The number of words that you know is the single most important measurement of your ability in a language.” - Steve Koffman

Despite the attention given to tones, characters, grammar, and pronunciation, the greatest challenge posed to any Mandarin learner is acquiring a respectable-sized vocabulary.

Let’s put this into perspective. We said earlier that a typical native Mandarin speaker can write about 3,000 characters. But how many words do they know?

According to studies, a typical 5-year-old native speaker will know about 10,000 words. An adult may know anywhere between 20,000 and 40,000 words, depending on how much they read.

Let the size of those numbers sink in.

Furthermore, unlike in Spanish or German, Chinese is not in the same language family as English, and so there is virtually no shared vocabulary.

These facts will shape our approach to learning Mandarin.

First, we will set a more achievable goal. Our first step will be to learn about 2,000 words for our “core” vocabulary. This won’t be enough to understand much, but it will be enough that we don’t have to look up absolutely every word we read.

Bear in mind the difference between learning and acquisition. Especially early on, we will be using the dictionary to look up many, many words. But you will find that through immersion, many words will be clear from context. The jump from 2,000 words to 4,000 words will be very hard. The jump from 4,000 to 6,000 will be less hard.

Many language learners use frequency lists to direct their study. If you feel inclined, use these. But keep in mind the language paradox: knowing 90% of the words does not mean you will understand 90% of what is being said; the outlier words account for the majority of meaning.