Language Learning Series #10: Learn the Most Commonly Used Words

Every language is made up of thousands of words, a vast sea of vocabulary used in writing and speech.  However, a large portion of a languages’ vocabulary consists of words that are not used on an everyday basis.  Consider the English words “pariah,” “homeostasis,” and “house.”  While you may never encounter an occasion to use the first two words in your conversations, it is very likely that you shall use the latter.  Therefore, it is recommended that you should focus on vocabulary that is used most commonly in speech.  The average English speaker uses a group of one to three-thousand words in communication, it is logical to say that the same follows for the average person of a foreign dialect.  Listed below are the one-hundred most common English words, according to the The Reading Teachers Book of Lists, Third Edition: 

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. than
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
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

(Taken from http://www.duboislc.org/EducationWatch/First100Words.html.  The full list on site lists one-thousand commonly used English words.)

While many of these words are represented in foreign languages by other means (such as through suffixes and prefixes), you may use this list as a means to start a foundation for your conversational ability.  However, if you find a list of common words in the language that you are studying, then all is for the better.

(Here are some links to lists of commonly used words in other languages:)

Spanish: http://wordsgalore.com/wordsgalore/languages/spanish/spanish1000.html

French: http://french.languagedaily.com/wordsandphrases/most-common-words (Contains audio clips of most, if not all the words)

Italian: http://italian.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/most-common-italian-words.htm (Only lists 100 words)

German: http://german.about.com/library/blwfreq01.htm

Russian: http://masterrussian.com/vocabulary/most_common_words.htm

Japanese: http://www.japanesewords.net/36/over-1000-japanese-words-list/ (around 1300 words)