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Just few days ago I argued here that kinkajou is not English word and should not be in an English word game. Is bryndza English word? Both have English Wikipedia article.
That's the greatest and one of the most frustrating aspects of English as world's lingua franca : it readily absorbs any and all foreign words and makes it a part of the language.
Scored 87% above native speakers with CEFR level C2 and 21100 word families. I wonder if the study found anyone at the very top of the scale?
Unfairly discriminatory | Mostly positive | publicly accepted | Socially Neutral
That's a dumb test. 9/10 english words it showed never come up in any written or spoken word. That's very stupid way to measure someone's vocabulary knowledge.
Being able to correctly define useful words would be a better test of knowledge. Just because you “know” some words doesn't mean you really understand what they mean.
Bah, it's just a test for “book smart” people to feel good about themselves. One has to feel good about that time investment, I guess.
On a side note, I don't think using too many uncommon words is a good thing. It just obscures the meaning of what you are trying to say unnecessarily. But this is a status marker and a pretty effective way to create tribal boundaries; people love to feel smart without too much effort.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the greatest and one of the most frustrating aspects of English as world's lingua franca : it readily absorbs any and all foreign words and makes it a part of the language.
The absolute worst part is the wildly inconsistent orthography. I have such pity for non-English learners.
Language is a living thing; it is never set in stone. We just have to adapt to it; there is no other way.
That's a dumb test. 9/10 english words it showed never come up in any written or spoken word. That's very stupid way to measure someone's vocabulary knowledge.
Agreed. I didn't score too badly (above 50% of native speakers and above 99% of non-native). Many of the words were obscure and extremely contextual. If you are in a particular field with a lot of jargon, you may know countless words, but I don't think it means anything. Being able to correctly define useful words would be a better test of knowledge. Just because you “know” some words doesn't mean you really understa…