Finally some use of the GRE English exam that I had to take before joining CS program!
Estimate your English vocabulary size
71–80 of 331 posts
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#72Some of these don't look like real words (e.g. splarge, which is definitely something that you could make up). I assume they're real, though. Anyway, my score: http://testyourvocab.com/?r=36192
The word was actually "sparge," a word that any home-brewers have likely come across.
Ah, that's why dictionary.com didn't know what "splarge" meant. Apparently "sparge" is a sprinkling - why would home brewers know this? Genuinely curious here.
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#73Wouldn't a multiple choice quiz with definitions be more accurate? Force people to choose a definition (or none of the above?) to show they actually know the word. You'd still have the issue of cheaters but at least you would know people just don't assume they know the definition of "like"
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#74Think I have the lowest score here. 16,400 words. English is not my native language but I speak English daily and I wouldn't say my English is bad. Pretty disappointed with the score and also surprised the median is way way higher than I expected. Edit: And, also to add, I followed 2 criteria for whether I know the word or not. 1. What's the absolute definition? 2. And can I find the equivalent or meaning of it in my…
21,400. My native tongue is Tamil too. In the second list I was surprised at some of the words, which I've never ever seen before.
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I got just under the median on this test, but I scored around the 99th percentile in the SAT verbal, and I feel it's reasonable to say the two test approximately the same things. It seems unlikely that I've slipped so far in just two years :) I never really considered Hacker News to be full of overconfident people. If anything, to me being part of HN is a humbling experience. It reminds me that there are so many peop…
I'm pretty much in the same boat. This scored me below median, but I scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT verbal as well (although that was a decade ago for me). I think one contributing factor is the structure of the questions. If you ask me if I KNOW at least one definition for the word mawkish for example, I'll choose no I don't know a definition of it. I do however have a good enough feel for the word, that I…
Same with me (SAT)... It says I have below the median vocabulary. They should have at least had some sort of base standard to compare the voluntary data with so that they could measure their sample drift.
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#7619,600. I'm willing to accept this, although I'm not going to lie -- I'm very upset at myself. I'm used to scoring 99th percentile in every standardized test; it's kind of a shock to realize that I'm nowhere near the median of even my age group , let alone the general populace (I'm 20). That said, I'm currently reading A Dance with Dragons and there are tons of words in this series (A Song of Ice and Fire) that I'm n…
I'm 22 came in at 19.5k. I guess I need to use the dictionary in my Kindle a lot more.
I'm 23, I took this thing half awake and came in at 24k. I'm not an avid reader. The test seems to pull random words from a dictionary and not words used in a general mannor. Not only that but it messed all the delicious skill-trade grammar I know and love.
Bollocks.
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#77I got 17,200. I'm 22 with a Bachelor's degree and I was pretty surprised with how low I scored. Anyone in a similar category?
18,100 words, 24 years old, non-native speaker. I've never read a fiction book in English, only technical ones.
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#78lots of people here are saying they scored lower than what they expected, and that maybe other people cheated. that could be it, but it could also be that hacker news folks tend to be overconfident. this would match the stereotype of this group being mainly male nerd entreprenuers, which could score worse on things like this but perceive themselves to score much higher (a feeling not a fact backed by studies that i c…
(a feeling not a fact backed by studies that i can remember)
Maybe you're thinking of the Dunning-Kruger effect? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#7929,500, non-native English speaker (but studied in the US). Retook the test and omitted all the words I could not define with total confidence on the spot; the original score was 31,400. The test is peculiar in that the distribution appears to be uneven. Subjectively there is a sharp break between words that one would know from Shakespeare, Tolkien and Dunsany, and words no one would ever know unless they studied the OED. For statistical significance they would need more words.
Re: Estimate your English vocabulary size
#8019,600. I'm willing to accept this, although I'm not going to lie -- I'm very upset at myself. I'm used to scoring 99th percentile in every standardized test; it's kind of a shock to realize that I'm nowhere near the median of even my age group , let alone the general populace (I'm 20). That said, I'm currently reading A Dance with Dragons and there are tons of words in this series (A Song of Ice and Fire) that I'm n…
I was a bit disappointed with 23,700, but it appears to be good for a non-native speaker. My wife, a native English speaker, virtually lapped me at 42,600 words. :)