Yeah, I'm talking about 10k and 18k because these are the numbers mentioned in the N2/N1 thread. Since most people say that you need about 10k words to be "fluent", my guess is that once you get to that point it becomes a matter of learning a lot more specific vocabulary in that more general vocabulary should be easy to guess based on the kanji and readings.
It probably feels like me doing Core 6k, then stumbling upon words like 全力 and 高度. The first thing that comes to my mind is "do I really need to srs THIS THING?" (lol). The readings and meaning couldn't be any more obvious.
But 10k for N1 being too much? Given how much trouble people seem to have with the test, I don't know about that to be honest. I mean, I've definitely seen at least 5k words if you take into account the easiest stuff that I've decided not to SRS (words you can't forget and katakana words that are extremely easy), but my reading is nowhere near solid enough to pass N2, let alone N1. I won't say anything about listening though, because identifying and immediately processing the meaning of words in written and oral contexts in Japanese are very different skills.
It probably feels like me doing Core 6k, then stumbling upon words like 全力 and 高度. The first thing that comes to my mind is "do I really need to srs THIS THING?" (lol). The readings and meaning couldn't be any more obvious.
But 10k for N1 being too much? Given how much trouble people seem to have with the test, I don't know about that to be honest. I mean, I've definitely seen at least 5k words if you take into account the easiest stuff that I've decided not to SRS (words you can't forget and katakana words that are extremely easy), but my reading is nowhere near solid enough to pass N2, let alone N1. I won't say anything about listening though, because identifying and immediately processing the meaning of words in written and oral contexts in Japanese are very different skills.