The English We Speak: Dabble in

Learning English Conversations

BBC

Education, Language Learning

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 3 minutes

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Summary

Here's an expression that talks about doing something for fun. Learn how to use it here with Phil and Feifei.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for listening to this BBC Learning English podcast.
0:04.1	Have you tried any of our other podcasts?
0:07.2	Learn English from news headlines.
0:09.7	Hear classic stories in English you can understand.
0:13.5	Listen to real conversations and explore stories from around the world
0:18.1	all while learning vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
0:22.6	Find all our podcasts by searching BBC Learning English in your podcast app, or visit BBClearningEnglish.com.
0:31.1	Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too.
0:40.3	I'm Faye Faye. And I'm Phil. And why have you got such a big bag with you, Phil?
0:46.4	Oh, well, I've been dabbling in painting recently. I've bought some paints and brushes.
0:52.9	Paints and brushes. You've just said that you're dabbling in
0:57.6	painting. So let's learn that phrase. If you dabble in something, it means that you're not doing it
1:05.0	very seriously. You're just having fun. Yes, we often use it to talk about hobbies, particularly creative ones. I dabble in writing
1:13.2	sometimes. I'd love to write a book one day. Is there anything you dabble in, Fayette? Well,
1:19.2	sometimes I dabble in playing the piano, but I've never been very good at it. Let's listen to some
1:25.3	other people using this expression.
1:36.6	I've always loved painting, but I've never dabbled in sculpture, so I think I'm going to give that a try.
1:41.0	I love all kinds of music, but I've never dabbled in jazz. I think it's time.
1:46.0	I really love cooking, and I think I want to dabble in baking for the first time too.
1:52.2	We've been learning the expression dabble in.
1:58.5	We said that dabble in usually means to do something casually and not take it too seriously.
2:04.8	However, people sometimes use dabble in to talk about things that they do at work.
	...

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