Tap through 15 Swiss German words sampled from A1 to B1 level. You'll get an instant estimate of your vocabulary size and CEFR level. Free, no signup, ~3 minutes.
15 words · 2–3 minutes · be honest — only count words you could actually translate
Tip: use ← (don't know) and → (know) on a keyboard
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Roughly 500 words covers A1, 2,500 gets you to B1 independence, and about 4,000 frequency-ordered words is B2 fluency in Swiss German. Counts are approximate and frequency-ordered, so the earliest thousands do most of the work.
| CEFR level | Swiss German words needed | What you can actually do |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | ~500 | Greetings, basic needs, and simple set phrases |
| A2 | ~1,200 | Everyday topics, shopping, simple past and future |
| B1 | ~2,500 | Independent: travel, opinions, following the gist of media |
| B2 | ~4,000 | Fluent: follow news and film, hold real conversations, work in the language |
| C1 | ~8,000 | Nuance, idiom, and professional or academic use |
| C2 | ~16,000 | Near-native: subtle register, humour, and specialised vocabulary |
For the same numbers across every language, plus how many words each language actually contains, see the vocabulary size reference.
Vocabulary research maps CEFR levels to approximate word counts: ~500 words for A1, ~1,200 for A2, ~2,500 for B1, ~4,000 for B2, and 6,000–8,000+ for C1/C2. The test shows you a random sample of words from each level's decks; the share you recognize at each level estimates how much of that level's vocabulary you own. Curious how we schedule reviews after the test? See the interactive forgetting-curve simulator.
A few of the Swiss German words the test draws on at each level:
| A1 | Grüezi, Grüezi mitenand, Guete Morge, Guete Abig |
| A2 | de Coiffeur, gäbig, gruusig, mega |
| B1 | Proscht, probiere, s Rüebli, d Beiz |
The test samples words from CEFR-leveled decks (A1, A2, B1) and estimates your vocabulary size from how many you recognize at each level. It's a directional estimate, good for choosing where to start studying, not a certified assessment. Retaking it gives you a fresh random sample.
Take this free test: you tap through a sample of Swiss German words from A1 to C2, marking each as known or unknown, and it estimates your total vocabulary size and CEFR level in about 3 minutes. No signup is needed, and you can retake it any time for a fresh sample.
Roughly 500 words covers A1 basics, 1,200 gets you to A2, 2,500 to B1 independence, 4,000 to B2 fluency in most conversations, and 6,000 to 8,000+ to C1/C2 mastery. Frequency matters more than raw count; the most common words do most of the work.
An educated native speaker typically knows tens of thousands of words, but you need far fewer to communicate well. Around 3,000 to 5,000 well-chosen words cover most everyday conversation, which is why frequency-based study is so efficient.
Start studying at the level where you stopped recognizing words. All our Swiss German decks are free, so copy one to your library and review with FSRS spaced repetition, which schedules each word right before you'd forget it.
Uploaded files are processed in memory and never stored.
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