Monday, June 5, 2017

Imagination Takes Flight

“I love audiobooks, and when I paint I’m always listening to a book. I find that my imagination really takes flight in the painting process when I’m listening to audiobooks.” (Thomas Kinkade)

If you’ve never experienced the wonder of audiobooks, it may seem odd listening to a narrator (or actor) read a book. It can be soothing, entertaining, and faster in getting through a book. Most people are hooked to this process once they start it.

Reading isn’t just sitting down and having a book in front of you. Access more books at a new level by listening to audio books. Try this wonderful form of reading for anyone. Below are some amazing benefits of audiobooks:

1.  Better Retention: If you have read a book before and then listen to the audiobook version, you’ll retain and reinforce much more information.  Audiobooks are great to supplement previous knowledge to solidify information. When you listen to audiobooks it helps with vocabulary. More words listened to in context, more words learned.

 
2.  Convenient: You can use them on your phone, iPod, computer, or in the car. With audiobooks it’s easier to pick it up (and start consuming) no matter the location, noise level, or time of day. Chores or a long drive can be monotonous.

 
With a good audiobook, time seems to speed by. Audiobooks save trees. They are great for readers with poor eyesight. Audiobooks are accessible through the library, Amazon, or Audible. They cut TV time in half. Audiobooks can be listened to in the dark unlike a print book.


3.  Effective: Conceptual books and biographies are better off consumed over audio than text. In concept books, you don’t need to know the exact details of the research as long as you understand the major concepts. In biographies, as long as major events of that person’s life are grasped.

Avoid audiobooks that cover a lot of detail, and require you to take a lot of notes. Once a while you’ll get a book, read it and find yourself bored (or confused by the plot). Books like these are great to listen to the audiobook version.

Audiobooks increases the number of books kids, teenagers, and adults read. If you listened to two or more audio books a week, you’ll have at least eight books read in a month. That’s more than most people read in a year.

“Narrators can make or break your audiobook experience.” (Anonymous)

4.  Entertaining: There’s nothing like a great audiobook reader (though a bad one can really make a book awful). Audio books may be a better way to read books because of the reader’s voices.

When I listen to audio books I comprehend it more when the narrator changes their voice inflection for the characters, and the storyline comes alive as they act it out.

A voice can reveal so much more context than merely print. Sarcasm is a great example. You hear every little detail in audio book. Sometimes people might skip over a paragraph or a page and that could be a very important part. Listening to audio books makes you a better listener.

5.  Faster Learning: One of the main advantages of audiobooks is that you can pace the information you consume. I like to play my audiobooks at 1.5x or 2x speed and it doesn’t affect my comprehension.

If you want to go through a lot of information, this is a great way to do that. If you are a slow reader, an audiobook moves at a much faster pace, and there’s less time required to internalize the words.

When you listen to audiobooks you know how to pronounce every word in them because the reader says them first.

6.  Preference: Some people prefer audio over text for learning. If you don’t like reading, experiment with audiobooks to see if this helps you with learning. Listening comprehension exceeds reading comprehension. Do we not talk before we read?


7.  Save Time: Multitasking can be useful and effective. You can listen to audiobooks are while doing anything. Use them while you are driving to work (or running errands). Learn a lot while you’re stuck in traffic.

It can make you more engaged in your life. One of the reasons I feel like I don’t do as much reading as I want to is because it’s so exclusive. You have to have your full attention on the book. Not with an audiobook.

There are plenty of tasks that can be done while listening to an audiobook. if you listen to an audiobook while you do chores, you’ll forget that you’re supposed to be bored.

“When you read a book, the story definitely happens inside your head. When you listen, it seems to happen in a little cloud all around it, like a fuzzy knit cap pulled down over your eyes.” (Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore)[i]



[i] Sources used:

·       “20 Reasons Why You Should Listen to Audiobooks” by Captain Lyaf Yarr and First Mate Keira

·       “7 Reasons Why You Should Listen to Audiobooks” by Thanh Pham

·       “9 Benefits of Audiobooks” Denise Drespling

 

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