“Dip into…”

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Pronunciation Guide

The word ‘app’ comes from application, but we shorten it to talk about smartphone, tablet, or computer programs. The combination ‘mobile apps’ is blended so much that it might sound like one word to you, so be careful to lesson to and speak it naturally with the recording. One note on the word ‘mobile’. Some speakers say ‘moBYle’ while others, like me, usually say ‘mobil’, with a short [i] sound.

Listen to the rest of the of the audio. There shouldn’t be any words that are difficult to pronounce, but listen to the stress of any new words and practice pronouncing them in phrases. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments.

Listen to the audio, try to shadow, and write your own notes. Then click ‘Compare’. Practice shadowing the audio with your notes.

Compare

Explanation

Today’s focus is on the phrasal verb, ‘dip into’.

Some common sentence patterns are:

“dip into [my, his/her/its, our, your] (something that you’ve been saving)”
“It’s (adjective) to be dipping into (something you have).”

When you put a chip in salsa, you ‘dip’ the chip. When you put sushi into soy sauce, you ‘dip’ the sushi. So, when you ‘dip’, you put something into a ‘pool’ of something else.

“Dip into” is a phrase that is used a lot to talk about savings. What are savings? It is a ‘pool’ of money, right? If you “dip into your savings” you are taking a little out. Think about it, when you dip a chip or sushi, you don’t take all of the salsa or soy sauce with one dip. But, if you dip too much, it will be gone. This image is what we have with our savings, so we use the phrase ‘dip into’.

There are other ways you can use the phrase. What are other things that are like pools? Some examples are:

Knowledge, content, information, oil reserves, etc.

Today’s example shows us how the phrase is used with content. The speaker describes the content in our smartphone apps as ‘buckets of content’. This is a great image. He starts off by saying how mobile apps are ‘killing’ (eliminating) the idea of the ‘one inbox idea’ (the idea that we can have many accounts going to one place). He says we are ‘dipping into buckets of content’ in the same way that we watch TV. Many people flip channels (or change from one channel to the next very quickly).

Do you think this is a bad thing? Maybe humans just like to compartmentalize (keep things separate).

Finally, remember that ‘dip into’ is a different phrase than ‘take a dip’. If I say, “I’m going to take a dip in the pool,” it means I’m going to go for a short swim. If you use “dip into” in this situation, it will sound a little strange. Also, “Take a dip in my savings,” would be unnatural.

Situations & Examples

Read the situations, but write down your own sentence using today’s target. When you finish, click ‘Show Example’. Share your own sentences in the comments!

Situation #1

Your friend and her husband really want to buy a house. The only savings they have are in their retirement fund. She is asking you what you think they should do. You have never bought a house before, but you have always read from experts who say not to use retirement savings unless it is really necessary. You say,

Show Example

Situation #2

You have been taking one trip abroad every year for five years. On one of your trips, you made a good friend. You call each other about trips every year. Your friend asks you about where you’re going this year. You had a big medical bill, and had to use your savings. You won’t be able to go on your trip this year. You say,

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Situation #3

In college, you studied anthropology. While you really liked the subject, you decided to become a lawyer instead. You haven’t read about anthropology since college. Your husband sees that you’re reading an anthropology book, and you explain how it’s nice to use all of your knowledge again. You say,

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Situation #4

You love talking economics and politics. You and your close friend are talking about the slow global economic growth last year. You want to say one reason you think it was slow. You think it was because industrialized nations used oil reserves when Libya stopped exporting. You explain,

Show Example