How Many Words a Translator Should Know

It is not an easy thing to be a translator. It takes much time and effort so the one can stand up for this mission. One of the very basic things that a translator or an interpreter should acquire is to learn as many words as possible and add new vocabulary to their pack every now and then. However, how many words a translator or an interpreter needs to learn?
It’s true that learning a language is beyond words, but you cannot say that you master one or more languages if you only know a limited number of words. Generally, a person who knows more than 10000 words of a foreign language is regarded a fluent speaker of this language; and accordingly, translators and interpreters need to acquire an average of 10k words in at least two languages. Good news is words generated from the same root are counted as different words; e.g. “to begin, begins, began, begun, beginning, etc.”
Don’t let the number intimidate you. You already know 10000 to 30000 of your native language. Yes, we know this huge number of words, even if we do not use them on a daily basis. Also, we are a lucky generation with online resources and other smart tools to tell us the meaning of every word there is in a few seconds. But a successful translator is a person who never stops learning new words and skills every day!