According to research and the Oxford English Dictionary, there’s a list of the 400 most common words in English that can help you understand up to 75% of everyday speech. That’s right, just 400 words can give your English a serious boost, especially if you’re still learning.
And the best part? This magic list works with any language. Yes, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Mandarin… the idea is the same. Focus on the words people use the most, and you’ll start understanding conversations much faster than you imagine.
The list includes around 100 of the most common verbs, nouns, adjectives, and essential everyday words. These are real-life words you’ll hear at restaurants, shops, hotels, on the street, or during team meetings. It’s not about grammar or advanced sentences.
If you’re planning to work and travel abroad, you’ll meet people from all over the world. For this, you don’t need to be fluent to make friend, join an international team, order your lunch, ask for help or just say “hello” with confidence.
You just need that magic mix of common words to get started and you’ll learn the rest on the go. You can start simple. These are the words you hear every day, in every country, and in every situation:
| Verbs | Nouns | Adjectives | Everyday words |
| Be | Time | Other | That |
| Have | Year | New/ old | Hello/ Bye |
| Do/ make | People | Good/ Bad | What/ When/ Which/ Where/ How |
| Say | Way | Small / Large | Please / Thank you |
| Go | Day | Different | Yes/ No |
| Can | Thing | Short / Long | Eat / Drink / Sleep |
| Get | Life | Little / Big | Work / Help / Go / Come |
| Would | Woman/ Man | Important | Think |
To help you memorize these high-frequency words, the team at Fast Language Mastery created printable worksheets all the 400 words example. Check it out here.
Try to create short sentences using the most common words. This helps you remember them faster and use them naturally in real life.
Here are some easy examples:
- “Hello! I’m Manuel.” (greeting your team)
- “Where is the kitchen?” (asking a basic question)
- “I work in the restaurant.” (talking about your job)
- “One coffee, please.” (ordering food or drinks)
- “I don’t understand. Can you repeat?” (asking for support)
When you live in a new country, you hear the language everywhere, on the bus, at work, in the supermarket. At first, it might feel difficult, but over time, your brain starts to adapt. And with that, your confidence appears to.
It goes like this:
First, you think: “Oh Wait! I know this word!”
Then, “Yes… I just said that without translating!”
And suddenly: “I’m having a real conversation!”
That moment is powerful. You can be proud of yourself. (: And it will make you want to keep learning more and more. And who knows? One day, you’ll be the one teaching them a few words in your own language.
If you’re dreaming of working and traveling abroad but feel nervous about the language, you don’t have to be. Starting with the most useful 100 words, practicing a little every day though move, ted talk, podcasts, books and learning through real situations.
Remember that confidence comes from action. Nobody starts perfect, but everyone starts somewhere. And here at Roast Jobs, we’re ready to help you take that first step.
👉 Discover how we can support your journey at roastjobs.com
This blog post was written by Júlia Zapparolli. Thank you for reading! 😊
You might want to read as well Learning languages from book, Boost Your English Vocabulary with Key Phrases for Hotel and Restaurant Positions, the 13 Fun and Easy Activities and much more.
