Dabbling: Why It’s Ok To Not Commit

About this Language Chat

In this episode of Language Chats, we talk about dabbling in a language and why there’s nothing wrong with just learning a few words without committing to larger, long-term goals.

Penny is dabbling in French at the moment and, by not fully committing to learning the language, she admits that it’s taken the pressure off - she can just enjoy just having fun and mucking around with the language without thinking about whether or not she’s making enough progress.

We chat about:

• What ‘dabbling’ even means to both of us
• How an initial dabble can take the intimidation out of starting to learn a language (which can sometimes be the biggest hurdle!)
• How dabbling in a language can create a deeper and more meaningful travel experience
• Why only learning small amount doesn’t make the learning any less interesting or useful
• When does dabbling stop and ‘serious learning’ begin? And when is the right time to make that transition? (For Penny, a potential upcoming trip to a French-speaking country might just get her over the line…)

Who else is dabbling or playing around in a language? Get in touch! We’d love to hear your story!