Here’s What You Need to Know About Dabbling in Many Languages

The beginning of a language learning journey is a lot of fun. You’re discovering new ways to structure thoughts into sentences and a culture under a new light. It’s mesmerizing, to say the least.

Every day is an adventure. Every day unveils new horizons. Every day leaves you speechless — literally since you can’t actually speak the language yet.

After a few months, however, you get to a stage where improvement starts to stale. Habits are set in place and you know you’re still getting better but you don’t see results as often as you used to.

Is it time to drop it and learn that other shiny language you’ve been eyeing? Or should you dabble some other ones instead?

Both can be good options depending on your needs and wishes but you first need to know what dabbling means.

What it Means to Dabble

Let’s start with the official definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

To work or involve oneself superficially or intermittently especially in a secondary activity or interest

It’s clear. To dabble is to not take the endeavor too seriously. If you’re feeling bad for skipping a day, don’t. To dabble in a language is to have it somewhat low in your list of priorities.

Throughout the years, I’ve seen dubitative eyes when I said I dabbled in Norwegian, Serbian, or Vietnamese for instance. Most people react by asking why. Why would you learn something you might not use? Why spend time on something only to drop it a few months later? Why not dive deeper into the languages I already speak?

The answer to all of those? For the fun of it.

To reach a high level in language-learning, like in any other field, you need hard work. You need daily active and conscious study. You need practice and feedback. You need to push yourself even when you’re not feeling like it. Dabbling? It should be fun.

Will it be “easy”? No, it won’t. After all, you’re learning the basics of a language that neither sounds nor looks like anything you know of. Sentence structures might puzzle you. But the lack of all-mighty goals reduces stress and keeps it fun.

Fun is where dabbling resides. Usefulness is only a potential extra. Don’t expect it.

Discovering the World

The most common reason to dabble in a language is travel. You’re planning a trip — not right now, I guess,— and you’re thinking that knowing a few words might come in handy. You’re right, they will! Locals always welcome with open arms someone who made an effort to learn the language. No matter where you go or how much you studied.

In 2013 after dabbling in Norwegian for a while, I traveled to Copenhagen. I noticed similarities with Danish and adapted on the go. In the city, I went to a garage sale and was able to ask prices in Danish to different people. Some even offered me an extra discount for the effort I had demonstrated.

I’ve also seen this for most of my friends coming to visit me in Japan. Being able to say a few words and understanding directions made their trips easier and created interesting encounters. The vast majority ended up having a fun night drinking with random Japanese people.

Sure, speaking a language at a higher level creates even more magnificent experiences. Yet, it’s incredible how a few weeks or months dabbling in a language can change a trip.

But that’s not it!

Dabbling in a language means you’re learning the basics. Typical sentence structure, recurrent vocabulary, simple grammar, and overall culture attached to it. Without even traveling, you learn about the country, how people organize their thoughts.

I’m currently dabbling in German. I was astonished at how German cases allow such a flexible sentence structure. I also finally understood why so many Germans natives add capital letters everywhere. German Nouns always need a capital Letter, even when they aren’t at the Beginning of a Sentence!

When dabbling in Japanese, you learn to avoid pronouns and that verbs are at the end of sentences. This explains why context is so important and why cutting someone else’s sentence is so impolite. That last part wasn’t easy to get used to as a French native!

Trying Things Out

If you have no pressure to become great at a specific language, why not try different languages or methods?

You could try the Glossika Method which consists of learning through sentences. You could try to learn through reading books or videos only. You could start practicing on the first day like Benny Lewis.

You could try studying in the morning or in the evening, studying every 3 or 4 days, concentrate on listening or reading, practice with other learners or native speakers. If you already speak a foreign language, you could even learn through it!

I did this for Burmese for some time. While I now study it mainly from English, I started with 5 to 10 minutes a day, from Japanese textbooks. It turned out to be quite helpful since it turns out Burmese has a similar grammar construction!

The more languages you dabble with, the more fun ideas can arise! Again, it comes down to having fun. If you are, keep at it.

Downsides of Dabbling

There’s no hiding it. Yes, there are clear downsides to dabbling in many languages.

The main one is, of course, that you’ll improve at a much slower pace. This can be frustrating. If you meet someone who is serious about a language you are dabbling in, you might regret it. After all, it’d be fun to exchange in that language! But if you’ve already stopped dabbling in it, this encounter will excite you and bring back memories!

You also have to be mentally prepared to lose the language after stopping it.

A common question about polyglot is how they speak so well many languages. In reality, even polyglots who “speak 20–30 languages” won’t be able to take one out of the bag out of the blue. They need to review them a bit but the higher the level reached, the easier it is to reactivate them. (Of course, there comes a level where no trigger is needed!) For languages you dabble in, you have to be ready to let them go one day.

I studied the basics of Serbian in 2014 for the Polyglot Conference in Novi Sad but wouldn’t be able to say “Thank you” anymore. I dabbled in Indonesian in 2015 but all I remember is how easy the language seemed. I learned bits of Norwegian in 2013 and barely remember more than “Jeg heter Mathias”.

Final Thoughts

Go ahead and dabble in a language if you want to! It’s fun and exciting. It opens your eyes to a wider world. It allows you to learn and fail without pressure. Don’t put many expectations and accept that the languages you dabble in will be forgotten soon after you stop them. To be more precise, they’ll be lost in the maze that is your brain. If you accept that, you’ll love this new hobby.

And, who knows? You might even discover you love the language more than you thought and dive deeper into it!

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