What do you want to do with the language? Do you want to be able to book a hotel? Because if that's your goal, then you're probably correct. Then again, you can probably do that in English anywhere in the world.
However, if your goal is to communicate, you won't be able to get by with 200 words. Just try to watch an episode of Friends with a non-native speaker.
> "Just a pinch!"
A: "What is a pinch"?
B: "A little"
A: "Ah! They should say little!"
(Though the conversation above is highly contrived since you wouldn't be able to understand the vast majority of Friends with at the very least 2000 - 3000 words)
The vast majority of people do not speak using the simple terms that are in those 100 top lists.
As an example - I would guess that from my previous sentence, "vast", "majority", "simple", "terms", "lists" and possibly more would not be present, and that's in only one relatively simple sentence.
I can "speak in" probably ten languages, but I'd only say I can really _speak_ bidirectionally in one or possibly two.
It really depends who you're talking to. I've seen claims, and I believe them, that in many languages the average person has about a 500 word vocabulary that they're using on a daily basis.
Someone who is more educated than the average person is likely to use a larger vocabulary, but they're also more likely to be able to simplify their speech to accomodate you and make it possible for you to communicate with them.
You might be able to have a very basic one on one conversation with someone who is speaking directly to you.
Now sit in the corner at a bar, party, in a conference, lecture hall, or even watch a movie without subtitles, and try to understand anything at all. In most if not all languages that's impossible with a 500 word vocab.
Getting the wrong inflection ruins any sense you're trying to make!