[BossingAround]

> You really don't need more vocabulary than that.

What do you want to do with the language? Do you want to be able to book a hotel? Because if that's your goal, then you're probably correct. Then again, you can probably do that in English anywhere in the world.

However, if your goal is to communicate, you won't be able to get by with 200 words. Just try to watch an episode of Friends with a non-native speaker.

> "Just a pinch!"

A: "What is a pinch"?

B: "A little"

A: "Ah! They should say little!"

(Though the conversation above is highly contrived since you wouldn't be able to understand the vast majority of Friends with at the very least 2000 - 3000 words)

[louhike]

Exactly and that’s the big problem when people talk about learning a language. For some, to learn a language is to be able to get by on a trip. Sure you can do that on 3 months. But being able to have conversations on advanced topics, read books or watch movies? Good luck, unless you spend 6 hours everyday, immerse yourselves and use good ressources. And you’ll actually probably be at the level of a middle schooler. Really learn a language is quite hard (pitch accent, new sounds, specific grammar, concepts which can’t be translated). And even experts spent years to master one.

[yosito]

Fair, you're not gonna give a speech with 200 words, but if it's the right 200 words (the most used ones) you can find a way to communicate almost anything. My point is that with memorizing just 200 words, there are creative ways to express everything and you can use that as a good base to start using the language and your progress will grow exponentially from there with minimal memorization. With 200 words of English, you might not know what "a pinch" is, but you know enough to have the conversation and figure it out even if the person you're talking to only speaks English.