How many words?

About how many words does one need to know in order to, say, read a newspaper or have a meaningful conversation, in a given language? I realize that the figure probably varies widely depending on the language, but I'm just looking for a rough estimate.

I think I read somewhere that 90% of everyday speech in Italian is made up of around 2000 words. Does that sound accurate?

In before "OVER NINE-THOUSAND"

here's the deal I remember about japanese newspapers
they adhere to the general use kanji list designated by the government which