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Pareto Principle in Language Learning
- The Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) suggests a small number of factors account for a large portion of results.
- Steve Kaufmann questions its application in language learning, observing that while a small vocabulary covers much everyday speech, achieving true fluency requires a vast lexicon.
Kaufmann's Language Learning Experience
- Kaufmann uses his Farsi and Czech studies on LingQ as examples.
- He has learned thousands of words beyond the most frequent ones, highlighting the need for a broad vocabulary.
Inverse Pareto Principle
- While frequent words are quickly learned, less frequent words are numerous and require significant effort.
- This creates an 'inverse Pareto principle,' where most time is spent learning a smaller percentage of words.