The Most Important Words When Learning A New Language

When it comes to language learning, grammar gets all the attention. Most theories about second language acquisition focus primarily on how we acquire syntax — the way we put words together to form sentences.

Vocabulary, in contrast, has historically been outside of the spotlight. This is unfortunate. Research has shown that your vocabulary has the greatest effect on comprehension.[1] A major difficulty students have in learning a new language is the sheer volume of new words.