Should You Use A Word Frequency List To Learn A Language?

Dave, one of our readers, recently sent in a fascinating question that got me thinking about one of the most debated topics in language learning: the word frequency list.

“Olly, I'm learning both German and Irish. You recently mentioned the most frequent thousand words covered 85% of conversation. It got me thinking of synonyms and how a word can be similar on the surface but mean something different in context. How does one know when they're using the right word in conversational context? Also, from where do you source the most frequent words?“

This question touches on something that confuses many language learners. You've probably seen those “Learn the 1,000 Most Common Words in Spanish!” courses or apps promising shortcuts to fluency.

But the reality? It's more nuanced than just cramming a word frequency list into your brain.

If you prefer watching videos to reading, hit play on the video version of this post at the top of this page. Otherwise, here's what you'll discover in this post:

The 85% Rule: What 1,000 Words Can Actually Do

Let me start with that statistic Dave mentioned. Studies show that the most frequent 1,000 words in English account for about 85% of everything we say in conversation. That's a pretty compelling number, right?

This kind of data exists for most major languages. And it's led to an entire industry of word frequency lists and vocabulary apps. The logic seems sound: if these words are so common, shouldn't we just memorise them and be done with it?

You can find these approaches everywhere. Software like Memrise offers big word decks with the 500, 1,000, or even 5,000 most common words in various languages. It's clearly appealing because it feels like a shortcut.

But here's where it gets tricky.

Why Word Frequency Lists Matter (And Why They Don't)

There's an inherent problem with memorising lists of words from a frequency list: knowing a word and being able to use it appropriately in conversation are two completely different things.

If you've ever learned a language to the point where you can speak it well, you'll know that using a word like a native speaker – in the right context – can often be very difficult.

This is exactly what Dave was hinting at in his question about synonyms and context.

The Context Problem

When you memorise words in isolation, you inevitably end up not really knowing those words particularly well. My whole ethos with language learning is it's better to learn vocabulary in context.

Those 1,000 words? In an ideal world, I'd like to learn them from context through:

• Texts and reading material
• Textbooks that systematically teach these words in context
• Dialogues and short stories (I've written a series of best-selling short story books to help with this)

When you learn this way, every word you encounter is already in context, so you automatically know how to use it.

The Natural Acquisition Argument

Here's something Steve Kaufmann said that made perfect sense to me: if you're spending time with the language, you're going to learn those most common 1,000 words really quickly anyway, simply because they're so common.

This is why I don't think you should necessarily rush off to memorise frequency lists at the beginning. Instead, focus on spending time with the whole language through:

• Reading your textbooks
• Reading books (if you can)
• Speaking with native speakers

By doing this, you learn what you need inevitably. If something doesn't come up in all that usage, you probably don't need it yet.

Key Principle: Not all words are equal for you as a learner. When deciding what to spend your time learning, you need to be selective and make active choices about what's useful for you.

Olly Richards, Linguist and Author

When Word Frequency Lists Become Powerful Tools

Now, here's where frequency lists get interesting. When you're further down the line and can already speak the language – maybe intermediate level or above – frequency lists become extremely useful.

At this stage, they usually take the form of frequency dictionaries, which you can get for all major languages.

Here's how to use them effectively.

The Fill-in-the-Gaps Method

This is something I call the fill-in-the-gaps method. And it's perfect for strategic vocabulary building.

Here's how it works:

Step 1: Get a good frequency dictionary (they tend to be quite expensive, but worth it)

Step 2: The dictionary will have the most frequent 5,000 words listed by order of frequency – most frequent at the beginning, gradually less frequent towards the end

Step 3: Work your way through from beginning to end

Step 4: As soon as you come across a word you don't know, you can be sure it's worth learning because it's so frequent

Step 5: Because you already have intermediate-level knowledge, you can give these new words context by looking up how they're used

Why This Works for Intermediate Learners

Let's say you're learning English and you come across the word “ensure” (meaning to make sure something happens). Because you already speak good English, you can:

• Google the word
• Look at how it's used in context
• Understand it properly

You can't really do this effectively at beginner level because you lack the foundational knowledge to give new words proper context.

Advanced Tip: Frequency dictionaries are perfect for strategic vocabulary expansion once you can already hold conversations and understand the language structure.

Olly Richards, Linguist and Author

Where To Find Word Frequency Lists

Dave asked about sourcing frequency lists, so here are the best options:

For Beginners:

• Don't bother looking for standalone lists
• Focus on textbooks and materials that teach common vocabulary in context
• Trust that frequent words will appear naturally in your studies

For Intermediate and Advanced Learners:

• Invest in a quality frequency dictionary for your target language
• Look for academic sources that provide frequency data based on large corpora (a large collection of texts)
• Use these strategically with the fill-in-the-gaps method

The Bottom Line On Word Frequency Lists

The main point isn't that you should rush off to learn those 1,000 words from a list. Rather, it's the notion that certain words are far more valuable than others.

This value might come from:

• High frequency in general conversation
• Personal importance for describing your daily life, habits, likes and dislikes
• Relevance to your specific goals and interests

My recommendation: Start with natural language exposure through stories, conversations and contextual learning. Save frequency lists for later when you can use them strategically to fill specific gaps in your vocabulary.

When you're engrossed in a good story or having an engaging conversation, you remember words more easily and the mechanics of language start clicking naturally. That's the power of learning in context.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.