If you learned 5 words a day it would take you 2 years and 10 months to learn 3,000 words. That's what it takes to be conversational. 5,000 is advanced, and 10,000-15,000 to be native like. To read it takes 20,000-30,000 words or more because you need to know passive vocabulary you would never use in conversation. For example, ik lees een book over draken, elfen, en dwarfen. I'm reading a book about dragons, elves, and dwarves. 1/3 of a fantasy book is going to be describing nature, buildings, and towns with great detail.
I live in the highest dutch populated area of the U.S.
Grand Rapids, Michigan. I wish the Dutch here didn't stop speaking Dutch in the 1920s.
If you learned 5 words a day it would take you 2 years and 10 months to learn 3,000 words. That's what it takes to be conversational. 5,000 is advanced, and 10,000-15,000 to be native like. To read it takes 20,000-30,000 words or more because you need to know passive vocabulary you would never use in conversation. For example, ik lees een book over draken, elfen, en dwarfen. I'm reading a book about dragons, elves, and dwarves. 1/3 of a fantasy book is going to be describing nature, buildings, and towns with great detail.