Language Dabbling makes you fluent faster. You don’t have to learn one language at a time anymore if you don’t want to. Language dabbling can be a powerful way to get better. In this episode, I’ll explain what it is, why I do it, and why it works to make you fluent faster.

Before we begin…

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This is perfect if you want to satisfy your multilingual cravings & discover more about the languages of the world, without the pressure to always commit to full fluency.

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The Video

The Podcast

What is Language Dabbling?

Language dabbling is when you learn some of a language without the pressure of reaching fluency.

There’s no rules when it comes to the time or effort spent dabbling. The only “rule” is that you’re enjoying yourself.

Language dabbling might mean that you take an online class in a brand new language. It might be an entire day or weekend devoted to a deep dive in a new language. Or it might a longer period of study.

Typically there’s no goals of fluency, and therefore the pressure is taken off.

Of course, what’s great about language dabbling is that if you love learning languages, and you’re not sure what’s next, it allows you the chance to explore without committing. It’s that commitment that sometimes leads to guilt when we don’t become as fluent as we’d like.

And that doesn’t make for a productive language learning environment.

So instead, language dabbling allows you some space to explore guilt-free.

Why I Love Language Dabbling

Language dabbling can get a bad reputation in language learning communities full of folks with fluency goals.

Surely time spent away from our focus language is time wasted, right?

I beg to disagree.

Firstly, time spent language learning is never time wasted. Even if it’s super passive, even if it’s a language you’re dabbling in, it’s all valid.

Why?

Because you never know where things might lead.

It’s hard to predict which languages will become relevant in your life 5 or 10 years down the line. That dabble now in a language you’ve never heard of? Could lead to something great.

Secondly, and most importantly, there are around 7000 languages in the world. That’s a lot.

There’s no way I’ll ever be able to learn them all in a lifetime, but if I can at least expose myself to as many as possible, then that’s a life in language well lived in my opinion.

It really comes down to a question of breath or depth. Would you love deep knowledge in just a handful of languages or would you prefer reasonable & useful knowledge in a handful, plus awareness and smatterings of so many more?

There’s no right and wrong answer. Both are valid.

But if you found yourself opting for the second, you may well be a Language Dabbler like me!

Why Language Dabbling Makes You Fluent Faster

Before going to a country, I always like to learn at least a little of a language. When I went to run Istanbul Marathon, that meant I finally got to learn some Turkish!

As much as I fell in love with the language, it’s just not practical for me to keep learning it at the same rate when I return and have more travel plans on the horizon.

Yet, as soon as I started dabbling in Hindi not long after my return, I noticed the word for ‘city’ is similar to Turkish!

Those moments when you spot a similarity you never expected to find? So satisfying.

But more so than being satisfying when you find them, when we learn languages, we’re building up our linguistic repertoire.

We’re creating a network of all the language we know and there’s so much more power and potential in that when we know more languages, even if it’s just a smattering of words.

Being multilingual means you’re able to comfortable use and switch between different languages. That’s a much easier muscle to flex when you’re actively practising it longer than simply learning one language at a time.

Besides, learning any language never ends. When we stop one to start another, it doesn’t mean we’re completely saying goodbye and giving up for good.

There has to be space to add in some time with older languages to keep them fresh (if that’s what matters to you). This also feels more comfortable when you’re used to exploring multiple languages at once and dabbling.

How to Start Language Dabbling!

Feeling pretty excited about the possibilities here? Yay!

The easiest way to get started dabbling in a new language without it upsetting your current language learning is to set aside separate time for it.

Perhaps it’s an hour or so on a weekend that would otherwise be spent doing housework or just lounging around. It’s all good, you can skip it!

Pick a language, pick a time, and explore. Let yourself be led by your intuition.

What is it you’re curious to learn about? Does the writing system intrigue you? Wondering which languages it’s related to? Want to get the basics down for travel? Do it. Do what you’re led to and see what happens!

Join Dabblers’ Den

If you can’t decide which language to learn next, if you’re overwhelmed at where to begin learning a new language on your own, or if you just love to dabble, Dabblers’ Den is for you.

Every single month inside Dabblers’ Den, you learn a new language in just 1 hour with me.

So you can satisfy your multilingual cravings & discover more about the languages of the world without the pressure to always commit to full fluency.

Dabblers’ Den is perfect for you if you…

– Are ready to discover a proven way to start learning any language on demand

– Want to learn multiple languages but feel overwhelmed to start

– Are endlessly curious about the world & use language as a lens to learn more

– Have fluency goals & recognise that dabbling in other languages can help you get there

Sign up for Dabblers’ Den once and I’ll keep you updated about all future sessions.