How many English words do I need to start?

About a hundred well-chosen words plus four sentence patterns is enough for the first month of speaking, because a hundred words combine into several hundred sentences. Learning more words before you can say a sentence out loud delays the part that matters, which is producing speech under mild pressure.

A hundred words plus four patterns produces several hundred usable sentences, which is more speech than most beginners can deliver in month one. Adding words before you can produce a sentence delays the only skill that matters at the start.

Improve English Speaking Free: The First 100 Words to Say Out Loud →