Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the self-report vocabulary test?
The self-report test asks you to check words you know — fast, but it relies on honesty. This check makes you judge every word as real or fake, so over-claiming is punished automatically: accepting fake words lowers both your accuracy score and your verified word count. Take both and compare!
What is a good accuracy score?
50% means pure guessing. Around 60–70% is typical for intermediate learners, 80%+ suggests advanced proficiency, and 90%+ is native-like — those are the ranges reported for LexTALE-style tests in research settings.
Can I get on the leaderboard?
Yes — unlike the self-report test, this score is objective and cheat-resistant, so it feeds a global leaderboard. Submit your accuracy score with a nickname after the check.
Why do the fake English words look so convincing?
They're pseudowords — invented strings that obey normal English spelling and sound patterns, the same technique used in psycholinguistics labs. Because they feel pronounceable and vaguely familiar, gut feeling alone can't filter them out; only genuine word knowledge can. That's exactly what makes the resulting score so hard to inflate.
How much vocabulary do I need to read English comfortably?
Reading researchers estimate you need to know about 95–98% of the words on a page to read comfortably without a dictionary. That typically means several thousand of the most frequent word families for everyday texts, and more for novels and newspapers. A high accuracy score here suggests you're at or near that comfortable-reading zone.
How often should I retake the check to track progress?
Every few weeks is a good rhythm — vocabulary grows slowly, so daily retakes mostly show sampling noise rather than learning. Each attempt draws a fresh mix of real and fake words, making it a fair re-measurement. Log your accuracy over months and the upward trend becomes an honest record of progress.