Hi, i remember when i had 4.000 known words. I was trying to have conversations with natives but i didnt understand nothing what was being said to me, and they hardly understood me.
In my humble opinion u dont need a tutor now, (i mean not to speak, maybe u need it just to ask grammar questions for now). You need to get yourself to at least 20.000 words. Then a tutor will be more useful to activate those words, besides u will understand what he is saying to you. I think with 4.000 u just will be able to undertsand 30% of what is being said i a normal conversation. But again is just my opinion i might be wrong. Keep pushing and good luck.
That’s great insight thank you! I do agree with you that I need more words in my vocabulary to understand any given conversation. The problem is, I don’t trust the LingQ word counter. I don’t enjoy the new LingQ format where turning the page means you automatically add the words to ‘known’. I’m quite conservative with my LingQs and I’m too lazy to change some known words to ''known" hence why my count is low. 
What’s the point of being conservative with LingQs?
It’s more out of laziness of marking them to 3 or 4. But, I don’t know, what’s the point in marking words to known when in reality, you don’t really know them?
I either lingq words that I don’t know, or hit k when I see a word I can guess. If I ever come to a word that is known but I can’t guess the meaning I relingq it. I never mark lingqs to 2,3, or 4 when I resee them, but as either 4 or known. Making a lingq takes approximately 2.47 milliseconds, and I don’t waste my time trying to find exact definitions or hints. I use my intuition, and in doing so train it. An attuned intuition is, in my opinion, the most important thing a language learner, or as Steve calls it a linguist, can have.
You can turn off the auto known marking, click the little gear on the right hand side.
I found this out on 4.0 the hard way. I was exploring and clicked the very last tab, and all the blue words were converted to known. Very annoying, but once you found the check mark, it became easier.
I just see it pointless adding more words to the known words unless you have an idea of what it might be, either definition or intuition, so why even change it if you’re going to relingq it?
I guess it’s just different styles for different users. I don’t mind having only 3800 known words even if it makes me look like I haven’t made much progress, but I let the number of LingQs, and how much reading and listening speak for themselves.
I must say though, you have a fast computer if making a LingQ takes 2.47 milliseconds.