Test your vocab: The Blog

(Please also see the main blog page, with all entries.)

TestYourVocab is back

23 October 2026

For more than ten years, TestYourVocab answered a simple question for millions of people: how many words do you know? Then the original site went offline, and with it a test that teachers, parents, students and the curious kept coming back to.

TestYourVocab.net is an independent tribute that brings it back. We simply missed the test and wanted it to exist again.

What's the same:

• the three steps: a quick first list, a larger and narrower second list, and an optional survey;
• the original pages, including this blog, the FAQ and the nitty-gritty details, as they were;
• the Brazilian version, at /br/.

What's new:

• an improved method. The scoring has been reworked, and the test now includes some made-up words, which help us correct for people who check words they don't really know. A new, detailed explanation is coming soon; until then, parts of the FAQ and details pages still describe the original method;
• a share button that works on phones and computers;
• a privacy page, explaining plainly what the site keeps and why.

The survey is back too. If we collect enough answers, we'd like to publish new results here someday, just like the original did.

So go ahead: take the test, and share it with your friends, especially the kids.