Frequency-based language learning: the words that carry the language
In every language a few hundred words do most of the work. Frequency-based learning studies them first, in the order they actually occur, instead of in textbook chapters. These lists rank the words of 8 languages by frequency and show what knowing the first 500 buys you in each. How and why it works →
German
first 500 words = 60% of everyday text Greek
first 500 words = 58% of everyday text Spanish
first 500 words = 67% of everyday text French
first 500 words = 67% of everyday text Italian
first 500 words = 63% of everyday text Japanese
first 500 words = 64% of everyday text Portuguese
first 500 words = 65% of everyday text Russian
first 500 words = 55% of everyday text
first 500 words = 60% of everyday text Greek
first 500 words = 58% of everyday text Spanish
first 500 words = 67% of everyday text French
first 500 words = 67% of everyday text Italian
first 500 words = 63% of everyday text Japanese
first 500 words = 64% of everyday text Portuguese
first 500 words = 65% of everyday text Russian
first 500 words = 55% of everyday text
How the coverage numbers are computed
Each word's share of running text comes from the wordfreq corpus (web, subtitles, news, books and Wikipedia), counting the word together with its inflected forms. Coverage measures the share of words you would recognise on a page. It does not measure comprehension: comfortable reading typically needs 95–98% coverage, so a 60% figure means many words known and many gaps still to fill.