To be the greatest in the kingdom of words, you have to be the least in the kingdom of words. This unfortunately is often overlooked. Teachers don't have their students study hardest the most frequent words in vocabulary, but rather fall into the trap of thinking that expanding their students's vocabulary is the most in the kingdom of words.
A bell curve pattern should teach us otherwise. The greater numbers of people fall into the middle of a bell curve, when ranking intelligence. So why would it not also true that the strength of this group is also in the highest frequency words? Why are we instead focused on the fringes of people and vocabulary?
I have studied a number of word frequency lists including those of Hebrew and Greek on top of English. The top 25 most frequent words in these languages pretty much include the top 10 words I am looking for as a common sense foundation.
Greatness is also seen in the example of the history of computers. The zenith of computers was not when it was aboard the Apollo 11 so much as when it was made available to everyone. That is the genius of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Apple Computer founders) and Bob Noyce (he was a founder of Intel). Both had visions of the the frequent uses of their technology, not the narrower use by specialists as their primary goal.
If we are going to teach students vocabulary, I think it is best to start from the most frequent words and celebrate the common sense of many students rather than put so much emphasis on spelling bee champions and the like, who are masters not of the greatest words, but of the least words. Least hear starting from the least frequent. Take care of your teaching and your vocabulary that you make it greater. .
Sincerely,
Jon
Originially noted: 4/17/14
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