This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2015.
How dabbling opens the door to connection.
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Are there any hobbies or projects that you're dabbling in right now?
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Expires at midnight on Friday. allersenglish.com slash b-l-a-c-k-f-r-i-d-a-y Hello, Michelle.
How are you?
Good.
How are you?
Excellent.
I'm feeling great today.
Happy to be on the mic with you.
Michelle, have you dabbled in any new hobbies lately?
Good question.
I feel like I'm always dabbling in something.
I can't think of something off of the top of my head, but you have, haven't you?
Well, I've been dabbling a little bit with learning Arabic and I've also been dabbling with a little gardening, because we planted a new tree in front of my house.
So I've been watering that tree, you know, trying to nurture it a little bit.
A few things here and there.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good.
So today we're going to talk about dabbling.
But we want to remind you that we have an app for all ears English.
It's iOS and Android android right lindsay, oh my gosh.
And it's really the way to go deeper with allers english, because on allers english podcast, you guys are here.
If you listen spotify apple podcast cast box, you only hear the show, but on the app you get to listen to the show, like you do here, but you also get to see the transcripts, right as you're listening, right on the screen right, that's right.
So that really brings our listeners to a new level And they can also tap on key vocabulary words which we choose.
That will deepen your native level.
Okay, guys?
So, Michelle, where can they go again to get the app?
Go to allearsenglish.com slash app, A-P-P.
Yeah, perfect.
Okay.
So, Michelle, let's talk about it.
We have a listener question, right?
Do you want to read it?
Sure.
Okay.
So it says, Hi, I am a royal fan of All Ears English podcast.
I check out the episodes every day and learn so much about spoken English and making small talk.
So this listener asks, How do you use the term come across as and dabble in your daily life?
Kind regards, Yen.
So guys, listen up.
We'll do a follow up on come across as but today I want to focus on dabble.
So thank you to Yen for that question.
This is gonna be fun.
Yeah, this is going to be really fun.
And guys yeah, make sure you're hitting follow on the show so you don't miss that other one on.
Come across, as that's also a great expression michelle right, oh yeah, we'll get to that another day.
We can't do everything in one day.
So dabble yeah lindsay, do you hear this word a lot?
Yeah, i do, i do.
I like this.
I think this sounds smart.
It sounds like if you say I dabble in this, I dabble in that.
It means that you're curious about the world.
Right.
Yes.
Right.
Right.
Right.
I mean, what does what does that mean to dabble?
It means to try things.
You try.
Right.
You you do a little bit of something.
It doesn't mean you're an expert, right.
It just means yeah yeah, you're trying, like here and there, like you know, just experimenting basically exactly, exactly.
You're saying you're kind of an amateur, you're interested in it though.
So do we have any examples we could give our listeners right away?
Yes, i've been dabbling in knitting lately.
I may take a class.
It's kind of good to be able to say that, because if you say I'm learning knitting or I'm taking classes in knitting, they might think that you're really good at it.
But if you say dabbling, you kind of get an out for yourself.
You're like, I'm just doing a little bit of this.
I'm not an expert, right?
I'm just trying something new.
It kind of lowers the commitment.
That's true.
That's true.
Guys, we want to make sure that you listen to episode Ollie's English, episode 1306, which is Are You a Creature of habit?
So that's a great one to listen to.
But um so lindsay, do you dabble in podcasting?
No, we definitely don't dabble in podcasting.
We're all the way in, we're underwater completely, we're.
We submerge ourselves.
Um, oh yeah no, that would not be because we i mean, we publish how many episodes across our whole?
All three shows, like 10 a week or something, i don't know a lot, right?
So we don't dabble in podcasting, right?
Um, And what about this example, Lindsay?
Sorry.
Can we give one more example?
Yeah.
Here's the example.
Do you know how to cook?
I dabble.
Right.
So what are you saying there?
I do.
I do a little bit.
I try.
I experiment here and there.
Yeah.
You experiment.
You try.
Right.
Yeah.
Perfect.
Love that.
So that would be the opposite of what we do on the podcast.
You don't dabble in to what you do all the time.
That's not dabbling. exactly exactly exactly um so michelle what about you what else what else do you dabble in what else well i guess i would say cooking uh fitness i wouldn't say i'm very committed but i dabble um but yeah it's like you're you're you're not committed to doing it overly frequently or that well maybe maybe at one point you will um but yeah you're experimenting what do you what about you do you well you were talking about arabic yeah dabble in learning arab but well it'll we'll see if if it's when i come back from egypt i'll see whether it's just dabbling or whether it's learning it like fully immersing and like trying to really learn take it on as another language that i speak right that's a commitment level and a decision that one has to make am i going to take a lesson once a month and just kind of dabble or am i going to take a lesson three times a week and really commit to this new language right it depends on On the trip and how I feel when I come back, right?
Yeah.
We can choose.
We can make choices in our lives.
Which languages do we want to learn?
What countries do we want to visit in the future?
It's very exciting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, Michelle, any other ways to say this?
Yes, a bunch.
So the first one is to play around with, or you could even say play with, but a lot of times they play around with
So for example, I play around with songwriting, but I'm not any good.
Yeah, that's and do you do that?
Michelle?
Is that is that true for you?
Are you a songwriter as well as a musician?
Or I you know, it's terrible.
I haven't written a song in a very long time.
Like, I hope that one day I will get back into it.
But I
It's not what it used to be.
I used to walk down the street and just melodies would come into my head and it was so natural for me.
And now it's not so much.
But I hope that maybe once my kids are a little bit older and I'm not so consumed I have a little bit more time for myself, that I could get back into that, because that is a huge passion of mine.
It's a good question, right?
I mean, in order to like, we all have creative energies.
We have something that's just a natural talent that comes up.
Do we need our lives to be a little less crowded and that to happen, like for that to come through?
When we start to have family and partners and houses and jobs and decisions, does it just become too crowded?
Right, i don't know?
I'm asking the question to our listeners too, i think.
I think, i think it can.
It depends how committed you are to it because um we um yeah, there's a, there's a lot that can get in the way, and So it just depends how committed
So I thought that I was really committed to doing it.
And then I still do love it.
But I will see.
We'll see.
I do hope to come back to more performing and things like that in the future.
But for now, I always English really kind of fits that.
Yeah, energy.
You know, I still get to I still get to do something kind of theatrical and creative.
Oh, I love that.
That's a creative outlet for me, too.
I feel like I satisfy my creative needs sort of through the show and we get to express ourselves and connect with our listeners.
Help our listeners.
Yeah, we're lucky.
We're lucky.
It's good.
Good stuff.
Yeah.
Another one, another way to say this Michelle would be toy around with a little less common right.
So she toys around with gymnastics, but she's more focused on her studies.
I also think about this as like toying around with an idea of doing something.
Ah yeah, like i'm on the fence, kind of like that.
Yeah, you know, i'm toying around with moving into california, for example.
Right, i'm toying around with this idea, i'm just throwing it around in my brain, kind of thing.
Right right right, right.
And then the other thing you could say is just from time to time right, he practices the guitar from time to time, but he hasn't taken a class.
Yeah exactly, from time to time.
And then fiddle with this is kind of fun, they fiddle with jewelry making, but i don't think they will open up a store or anything.
A great example of this is I think Jessica has shared on the show that she's working on.
How would you describe the art that she's getting into now?
It's like wood, something with wood.
Wood burning?
Wood writing?
It's really cool.
I don't know what you would call it.
But pretty much every week when I see her, she's got a new creation to show me.
It's pretty awesome.
Yes, I know.
She's amazing.
So yeah, that's a perfect example.
That's a perfect example.
Fiddling with it.
Yeah.
Who knows?
You know, a lot of times people do that and then they open up a store on Etsy.
Yes.
Maybe she will.
Exactly, maybe she will, i know it's.
I think right now she's just kind of in the fiddling learning stage, but it's a really nice creative outlet.
You know, maybe we all need something especially physical with our hands where or, or you know, writing poems or songs, where we can have that outlet right, are you good at like art or things with your hands?
God no michelle, no me either.
No, i'm a more physical person.
So with my time, get good thinking and i'll, like i said, be outdoors, be hiking, be moving my body.
That's my portal to kind of clear thought and feeling peaceful or meditation, obviously too.
Yeah yeah no, i am not.
Oh, my gosh, not art not, not artistic in the way of using my hands, not at all.
You are with music and performance and voice, so that kind of thing like, i guess uh vocal, kinds of vocal creativity.
I don't know what you would call it, but not the hands.
And some people do acting and you know some people are into Broadway drama club, that kind of thing.
That's a whole world.
So we all just want to find our thing.
Love it.
So yeah, these are really useful expressions you can use with hobbies like arts and crafts, maybe exercise lots of things that you can do there.
So let's do a role play.
We may not use all of these, but we'll use most of them.
And I'm sorry, there is a child crying in the background and I apologize.
Oh, I can't hear it, but hopefully our listeners can hear.
We'll just speak really loud on the mic so they can't hear.
Yeah.
All right, here we go, Michelle.
We are catching up and we are talking about our hobbies as friends.
Here we go.
Yes, here we go.
So I've been dabbling in beading lately.
Wow, that's great.
I've been toying around with jewelry making, actually.
We should get better and open a place.
Yeah, I just do it from time to time.
I've been playing around with making earrings specifically.
Oh, that's exciting.
All right.
Yes.
I think that's cool when people do jewelry making.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah.
I would have no idea where to start, but I'm sure you could take classes.
Yes.
Right, right, right.
So let's see.
So I said I've been dabbling in beading lately.
So people are beading all sorts of things.
Can we explain for our listeners?
What does that mean?
Beading?
Putting beads onto things, I think.
Okay.
Yeah.
So it could be jewelry, I think.
Yeah, for sure.
Or bracelets, maybe rings.
I don't know.
But if our listeners have the app, guys, you're going to see how to spell that, right?
The key here is the spelling, right?
B-E-A-D-I-N-G.
That's important to note that.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yes.
Beading.
Okay.
Love it.
And then what was the next thing?
And I said, wow, that's great.
I've been toying around with jewelry making actually, so it's kind of fun because when you reveal to someone, it's a connection moment.
Hey, i've been making these wood carvings, or i, and then the person said oh, i've been doing something, and then all of a sudden you, you know the person opens up a really cool connection that you might not have otherwise if you hadn't shared the thing you're working on.
Right yes true, true.
So you open up the door to get a connection there.
Um, then you kind of take things up a notch and you say we should, we should get better and open up plates, and i said i just do it from time to time.
Um yeah, so i'm like oh, i'm not that committed basically right, right.
So it's a always a bit of a mismatch, right?
If someone has an entrepreneurial spirit, like let's make it a business, and then the other person just wants to be an artist, it never works Right, right.
Somebody just wants to do it for fun.
And yeah, right.
It's a mismatch.
It's like the Steve I just rewatched maybe I mentioned this before the Jobs documentary about Steve Jobs, Apple founder.
And it's like Wozniak and Jobs, right?
Steve Jobs was.
He was really adamant that they wanted to invent this thing and turn it into a big company.
And Wozniak was the coder and he just wanted to make code, like make cool things, you know, and so there was always the tension between them.
Really interesting interesting, that is interesting.
Yeah, what's the takeaway today?
Well wait, there was one more.
I said i've been playing around with making earrings specifically, so again trying loving that.
Um, So takeaway for today.
Yeah, this is fun to say dabble.
This was a great question.
I love these specific questions.
It's very casual.
It's good to talk about your casual interests.
And I think really what Lindsay said is the takeaway about opening up a door to connection.
When you share things, don't think that you have to only share pieces of yourself that are like Perfect and polished.
Refined.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right.
Even if you say you're dabbling in something, you do it a little bit.
We don't know.
That can be a huge connection skill.
And it can also like relax the person as into saying maybe they do something.
Oh, wait, I tried that too.
And you kind of share your, you know, how things are going together.
Yeah, this is a low commitment word.
It means that you're not saying I'm an expert in the thing, right?
Sometimes we might be afraid to share something because automatically we think oh, they must have expectations that I'm a perfect artist, right?
Or a famous artist.
No, you can just be trying something as Michelle said, but do share it.
Use this word or something like it, to share it to, as Michelle said, open that door to that awesome connection.
So good.
All right.
Great question from our listener.
Thanks so much.
And we'll see you in the next one.
All right, Michelle, take care.
Bye.
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