¡Felicidades!

You make a very pertinent point.

There was a time, I could boast of having a big vocab of Spanish words. However, as I didn't need them on a daily basis, I unlearnt a lot.

I'm still able to manage in Spanish. However, learning a lot didn't help.

Around 100 words and phrases is more than enough to communicate in a Spanish speaking region.

Very interesting read this. Muchas Gracias.