Hallo, have you been looking to improve your conversational skills and effectively tackle a lot of new vocabulary? Check out our post on the 1000 Most Common German Words below.

When learning a new language the amount of vocabulary can be daunting. Have you heard people say things like: “We only use around 700 words when we talk?” This is true to some degree. The number of words to learn to speak a language really depends on your purpose. Remember that 300 to 600 words may be enough to travel, but at least 1000 words are necessary for a conversation. The most important thing is not knowing how many words you need to speak a language, but which words to know. Complete fluency is in the 10,000 word range. According to the economist: “Most adult native test-takers range from 20,000–35,000 words. Average native test-takers of age 8 already know 10,000 words. Average native test-takers of age 4 already know 5,000 words. Adult native test-takers learn almost 1 new word a day until middle age”

10,000 words. Wow. That does seem daunting when you are first starting out. But like anything new, you just have to start small and keep adding to it.

That’s why we wrote this blog article: which features the  1000 most frequently used German words.

Why these 1000 words?

Let’s imagine that you just got a job as a bartender. Would you try to learn every cocktail known to man, or would you focus on the cocktails that are most popular in your area? We developed this list of words based on the idea of the 80/20 principle (the cornerstone of results-based living). This strategy developed by David Kock says “The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs or efforts usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards” So instead of learning 10,000 words in no particular order, learn the most common 100 words, then the most common 500 words, and then the most common 1000 words. If you want to check out this classic business book, you can order it here.

Other great ways to improve your vocabulary:

1. Watch Netflix in Original language with original language captions
2. Check out a great German books
3. Do some quick daily exercises on DuoLingo or any other free language learning app
4. Enroll in a fun online German group class with us. It will help you stay committed and you can make some new friends!
5. Work with a world-class German tutor (many are dialect coaches that work on film and tv!)

What’s your German Level? Take our 5-min Quiz