Unread books can revenge. Regardless of whether you heard this phrase or not, it sounds frightening. But how can a modern human with a rapid rhythm of life avoid "avengers"? There is a way out – listen to audiobooks, and if you do this in English, you will get a double benefit. We will tell you how to do it, for what purpose you need to work with audiobooks, and how to work with them.
How to Navigate in a Huge Range?
If you know English not very well, then not all books will be equally useful. So do not rush to start with your favorite ones or those that were once accidentally recommended. Let us see what materials can be found on the Internet. Types of audiobooks:
- By type of voice
- Books, sounded by a professional (a native speaker of English) – such books are ideal for those who want to listen to competent English speech and learn to speak perfectly. If you are going to repeat the words after a narrator, learn correct intonation and pronunciation, then this type is created to you. Books read by a professional are a universal material that is suitable for any purpose. They have only one minus – they are not easy to find in free access.
- Books, voiced by ordinary people (native English speakers) – such books are good for people with average knowledge of English and higher. If you want to get used to different accents in English and want to improve the understanding of oral speech, make a choice in favor of these books. The most important advantage of these audiobooks is that they are easily found in free access. However, if your level of knowledge is below average, then it will be difficult to perceive information. In addition, an audio track is most often recorded in a normal home environment, so the sound quality leaves much to be desired.
- Books voiced by teachers or linguists are another good option for people whose level of English is lower than average. Audio is usually recorded in professional studios, all words are pronounced clearly, you will easily understand them. On the other hand, intonation and pronunciation of such speakers still slightly differ from those of a native speaker.
- Books created with the help of special computer programs (Text-To-Speech) is not the best option. A program is not able to voice a text so that a natural, coherent speech with the intonation typical to native speakers is produced.
- By complexity
- Children's fairy tales and stories are the simplest material that adults should not neglect. Children's books, as a rule, are read by professional narrators at a measured pace. At the same time, texts are easy to understand because of vocabulary: children's books feature a limited set of most frequently used words.
- Audiobooks with basic text are a good material for those who find it hard to understand oral foreign speech: you can listen to a book and follow a text with your eyes. In addition, such materials are convenient to use if you are going to learn new words: you can see their spelling in a text.
- Standard audiobooks are materials for people with Intermediate level and higher. These are usual records for native speakers, so they are not always easy to understand. On the other hand, on the Internet you can easily find texts almost to any audio, and this will help you understand a book.
In addition, we advise you to try to listen to an audiobook whose text you have read more than once in your native tongue. Surely every person has a favorite masterpiece by an English-speaking author. If you remember it very well, then it will be easier for you to work with an audio.
What Is the Use?
Listening is very important. To learn to understand foreigners you need to often listen to them. If you do not live abroad and do not communicate with foreigners daily, you need to find other available ways. The best assistants in this business are podcasts and audiobooks. And now, we will find out more about the use of learning English with audios:
- You improve your understanding of oral English speech
This is the main reason why such method is very popular. The more we listen, the faster we become accustomed to foreign speech. And if you take into account the fact that most free audiobooks are narrated by people who are not professionals, then you can also listen to people with different pronunciations. Someone would lisp, someone would pronounce sounds indistinctly, someone would speak too fast. This is an excellent training for you.
- You get used to coherent speech
Speakers do not make a pause between the words and pronounce each phrase with a natural intonation. You will gradually get used to live speech, so it will be easy for you to communicate.
- You learn new words and phrases in context
If sometimes we are too lazy to find and learn words from podcasts or textbooks, then an unfamiliar word playing an important role in a record will certainly make us wish to know what is at stake. These words are easy to remember because you study them in context and understand how they are used.
- You listen and remember how grammar is used in live speech
In theory, you understand perfectly when you should use Past Perfect, but when it comes to using this tense in speech, you get confused and do not know if it is appropriate. Working with audiobooks will help you understand how any construction functions in practice. If you do not just passively listen to an audio but also think about how this or that tense is used in speech, you will understand the principle of grammar not in theory but in practice.
- You practice English wherever you want
Audiobooks are portable learning materials. You can take them with you anywhere by downloading them to a smartphone or a tablet. So if on the way to work or college you are not interested in listening to others, listen to an audiobook.
- You are developing yourself
Those unread books that could take revenge on you do not pose a danger now because you will hear them. If reading is not always possible, then listening is almost always available. And you can read not only fiction but also professional literature or books on self-development, then you will also engage in self-education without spending a single minute of your free time.
How to Listen Properly?
You can just listen and have fun. It is suitable for those who comprehend English aurally. And what about those who do not comprehend it easily? For them there is a technique that can greatly improve listening skills if applied easily. How to do it? Take these steps:
- Listen to a small extract from a book. For example, take one chapter. It is okay if you do not understand every word. At this stage try to catch the common sense of what is said.
- Take the text of a book and turn on the audio. Listen to the narrator and look in the text in parallel. Do not concentrate on unfamiliar words, their meaning can be guessed from the context.
- If you want to replenish your vocabulary, select the words you do not know, write them down in a special notebook, and learn them.
- The day after you learn new words listen to the audio again. Do not look in the text, try to understand the maximum information aurally.
- Listen to a narrator and repeat the text after him or her, trying to copy the intonation of the native speaker. If you decide to use this method, you need to find an audiobook read by a professional narrator with the correct pronunciation.
- And do it with pleasure.
We all understand that we need to accustom ourselves to the sound of foreign speech, but not everyone likes podcasts. Some people are not interested in that. Books are as addictive as coffee in the morning. If you choose an interesting book, then you will get carried away with a story so quickly that you will look forward the opportunity to listen to another piece of your favorite novel.
We hope you will make the most our advice.
Chat with us