J.L. Laide - Swedish English Frequency Dictionary--Essential Vocabulary--2500 Most Used Words

Title Page

Most Used Words.com

Swedish English Frequency Dictionary

Essential Vocabulary

Copyright 2016 by MostUsedWords.com

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2016

Jolie Laide LTD

12/F, 67 Percival Street, Hong Kong

www.MostUsedWords.com

1 Why this dictionary was created

T his dictionary was created because I needed a word list of the most frequent used words & verbs in Spanish, to help me learn that language in the shortest amount of time possible.

I started passing it around to friends and got great feedback on it, so I decided to turn it into a book.

I applied the same principals to different languages, and aim to create series of all major languages.

This way everyone is able to learn a new language in a fast and efficient way.

I hope you find this book as useful as it was for my friends and me.

Why study by frequency?

If youre not familiar with the importance of frequency word lists when it comes to language learning, here is a short summary:

Language learning is fun, but can be overwhelming. Almost every language as hundreds of thousands different words, but most of them you will rarely use. Thats why it makes sense to study only the words you actually need to know to have conversations and read in your desired language. Basically, all you need to know to live your day-to-day life.

Frequency dictionaries are usually either text based, or speech based. The unique advantage of using subtitles as a method of frequency sorting is that it covers both speaking and reading (73% and 83% respectively).

By only studying the words you will actually use, it is possible to gain a good grasp of a language in a short amount of time. By knowing 2500 words, you can express yourself in everyday situations and have conversations with locals.

On average, you only use 1000 words in any language on a daily spoken basis. This translates to roughly 95% of all words you use daily speech. When it comes to reading, 2500 words will get you to understand around 85% of all words used in written text.

This is idea is based on the Pareto Principle.

You might have heard about it. Pareto was an Italian economist who discovered that 80% of the output comes from only 20% of the input (or material, or effort).

It also applies to language learning. To understand 95% of a foreign language, and become fluent enough in everyday speaking and reading, it might take 3 months of applied learning.

But to get to a 98% understanding might take 10 years. Talk about diminishing returns!

Im not promising you to speak like a native. That is completely up to you. But, in my opinion, its a waste of time. In my opinion, the goal of acquiring a new language is to be able to communicate. Not to speak without errors. Most natives dont even speak without making mistakes.

When you acquired your first language as an infant, did your parents give you hours and hours of detailed grammar study? (I hope not)

Build your vocabulary, learn basic grammar and go out there and speak. Make mistakes, have a laugh and learn from them. Good luck!

Addendum: For those who want to improve their Swedish further.

While its important to note its impossible to pin down these numbers and statistics with 100% accuracy, these are a global average of multiple sources. According to research, this is the amount of vocabulary needed for varying levels of fluency.

1. 250 words : the essential core of a language. Without these words, you cannot construct any sentence.
2. 750 words : those that are used every single day by every person who speaks the language.
3. 2500 words : those that should enable you to express everything you could possibly want to say, alltough some creativity might be required.
4. 5000 words : the active vocabulary of native speakers without higher education. You will understand 95% of all written texts.
5. 10,000 words : the active vocabulary of native speakers with higher education.
6. 20,000 words: what you need to recognize passively in order to read, understand, and enjoy a work of literature such as a novel by a notable author.

This book is the first in the Swedish series. Afer youve finished this and want to broaden your vocabulary, check out the following books

• Swedish English Frequency Dictionary II Intermediate Vocabulary 2501-5000 Most Used Words
• Swedish English Frequency Dictionary III Advanced Vocabulary 5001-7500 Most Used Words

Check out www.mostusedwords.com for more information.

2 Study tips

W hile you are free to do whatever you want with this dictionary, I would like to give you some pointers.

By learning just 28 new words a day, you can build up your vocabulary to fluency in three months .

If you dedicate yourself and learn 43 new words daily, two months is possible.

Fidel Castro taught himself English on his holiday to New York, where he apparently studied 200 new words per day.

Here are a couple of tips to build up your vocabulary fast, and to keep remembering what you previously learned.

Spaced repetition

Hack your brains ability to store and recall information. The most efficient way of studying is by incorporating the system of spaced repetition. This way you can store information faster and remember it better.