Interesting Links for 16-12-2025

[andrewducker]

1. Vocabulary Test: How Many English Words Do You Know? (I scored 21,900, above 92% of native speakers)

(tags:language quiz )

2. I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me.

(tags:kenya english language ai style )

3. The giant heat pumps designed to warm whole districts (in Germany. UK is miles behind)

(tags:heating Technology germany )

4. Hungary is leading the world in solar adoption (25% of its electricity is solar)

(tags:solarpower hungary europe )

Comments

Re: 1.

[channelpenguin]

Above 97%. I thank Julian May and Katherine Kerr for some of it! I fluffed a word I thought I knew the meaning of but turns out I didn't. Maybe there were more. I do tend to be able to use words appropriately whilst often flailing to give an alternative, so it would not be surprising.

[ninetydegrees]

2 - Excellent article, thanks. This is how I learned too, and how I teach (nowadays we try to teach both colloquial and more formal English but academic English is still a thing too).

1 - C2 level \o/ but the test can be easier for French speakers since so many difficult words have the same origins.

[channelpenguin]

2. Wow. Nice!

I was never really formally taught many rules or structures in English, so I'm always in awe of those who can wield them well. I write ridiculously long sentences sometimes, with big words, multiple clauses and a random (and no doubt often technically faulty) mix of punctuation.

I WAS taught German structures, but you have to learn that as it's far less free-form-tolerant than English, especially as regards usage of commas - those have formal grammatical function, rather than the 'pause for breath' that we can (or perhaps just do) use in English. Long multi-clause sentences that occupy half a page are, however, absolutely normal in German, with the structure keeping you on the straight and narrow as you wend your way towards the final verb! :-)

[juan_gandhi]

Oops, the test was hard, my results are pathetic (16800). What helps is some French knowledge.

[sigmonster]

24,200 / 98th percentile. More interestingly, the fact that measured vocabulary increases in normal aging was important in being able to say that dementias are not normal - they are diseases, not the normal consequence of age. So a very important impact on gerontology and elder care once society learned that (not that it is new, been known for maybe 60 years or more now).

[nancylebov]

Above 98%. I credit Jack Vance.

They got the definition for inchoate wrong.

I wasn't expecting that some of the words were made up.

https://www.metafilter.com/211443/A-perfectly-cromulent-research-project#8793690

[andrewducker]

It's a good way of checking that people aren't making false claims

[bearshorty]

I got 92% above native speakers as well with C2 level and 99.9% above non-native speakers. Since I learned English properly at age 13 when I moved to US, I am very pleased with that. I did the Russian test for fun as well, and I expected it to be much lower since I don't use it as much above regular conversation - no fancy words for me. I got 64% there, which is not surprising. I did know a lot of words because of their English origins, interestingly.

[chickenfeet]

I managed 24000. Kicking myself at not being able to remember what "agnate" meant!

[andrewducker]

Not a word I'd ever heard before!

[emperor]

I got 23,900, for whatever that's worth!

[coth]

24,700, greater than 98% with 8 out of 8 challenges for definition and caught two fake words. That's what spending your childhood with your head in books will do for you.

[bens_dad]

4. I am surprised that Victor Orban's Hungary is so into solar.
I do see that Hungary has removed lots of solar incentives since 2023, so they may not hold their first place for long.