As of 2023, the English language continues to be a dominant global lingua franca, with an estimated 1.5 billion people engaging with it regularly. Remarkably, over a billion individuals use English as an additional language to their mother tongue. The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, expansive with its 20 volumes, lists approximately 171,476 words in active use, reflecting the language’s vast expanse. Yet, this impressive figure still doesn’t capture the extensive array of specialized jargon and evolving slang that diversifies English across different cultures and communities worldwide.
How many words does an average person know? Robert Charles Lee writes that around 3000 words comprehensively cover everyday writing and reading. This includes speech, texts, movies, books, newspapers, and blogs.
