Britcent's English Audiobooks—How to Use and Make the Most of Them
6 min read
Level: Intermediate
Can you really learn English while you sleep?
If you've read 'Reading Books in English—How Do I Choose the Right Book?', you'll know that reading stories you enjoy is a fantastic way to learn English, and to keep you motivated. Listening to them at the same time can be even better. In this post we'll give you lots of tips on how to use English audiobooks to enhance your learning, and let you know why Britcent's audiobooks might just make your learning that little bit easier...
You get out what you put in
Some people are reluctant to listen to audiobooks because they're long. But there's good news: you don't have to understand anything. In fact, you don't even have to listen to everything! Let me explain...
Trust the process—it works.
How do babies suddenly start speaking without being taught a language? They have been hearing it for two whole years. So hearing English is just as important as listening. This is a known fact. Like most people, you probably know the theme tunes of your favourite TV programmes. But have you ever made a special effort to listen to them? No; you've heard them so many times that you can now sing them. The same goes for language.
The more you are exposed to a language, the easier it is for you to produce and pronounce it. Even if you weren't paying attention at the time. How does it work? I don't know, I'm not a neuroscientist. But I know it works. The mind really is an amazing thing!
Jack of all trades, master of English (eventually)
And this is the beauty of audiobooks; you can learn without even trying. Play one in the background and get on with something else: the washing up, cleaning the house, anything! In our busy lives, anything you can do while multitasking is priceless. You can even play them while you're sleeping (seriously) and you'll still learn something—audiobooks are perfect for this as they're long.
Many people know of these techniques but they don't apply them. Why? They can be impatient and sceptical. But as you already know, language learning doesn't happen overnight. A lot of learning happens behind the scenes. You will not see results instantly, but it will be worth it. Trust the process—it works.
Like this? Check out our podcasts
Listening is the hardest skill? Not speaking?
That's right. Why? Because listening is the one thing that you can't control. While we can ask people to repeat things if we don't understand, this is usually not enough. Unlike videos, podcasts and audiobooks, humans don't have volume controls or speed settings—unfortunately! With an audiobook, you can pause, rewind, fast forward and repeat sections as many times as you like. Increase or decrease the volume and change the speed—do what you like! It's in your control.
So what makes Britcent's audiobooks special?
Our audiobooks are read by English teachers. It is a teacher's job to think about the listener when they are speaking. They do it all day, every day. The learner is their number one priority. They are professionally trained in changing the way they speak so that the listener will understand. How? By speaking clearly and expressively. By modifying the speed of their speech, tone of voice, facial expressions and much, much more. So you can be sure that they're doing their best to help you understand the story. Frankly, this also makes them more pleasant to listen to. Many other audiobooks can be read too quickly or too slowly. Or the reader is too dramatic or too robotic. This is because they might not have the listener in mind.
This acts like a transcript and is perfect for shadowing.
It doesn't stop there. If you like the way a teacher reading the story speaks, you can actually take a lesson with them. Ask them for pronunciation tips, ask them to explain a confusing sentence in the story, or simply get to know the person behind the voice—the world is your oyster. Why not write a short review? Compare your opinion with teacher Steph's: Britcent Audiobook Review: 3 Life Lessons From 'The Little Prince'. Did you have the same ideas?
Audiobook, video, transcript, you name it
Our audiobooks come in two forms: videos and audio files. If you'd like a taster, head over to our YouTube channels. For whole books, visit our Naver channel. In many of our audiobook videos, the words the speaker says are highlighted on the screen as they say them. This acts like a transcript and is perfect for shadowing. And remember how important body language, facial expressions and even mouth shape (for pronunciation) can be for understanding. If you read 'Reading Books in English—Reading Your Book Again, Again and Again', you'll know that reading books many times is essential. Try reading your book once and then read it again and listen to the audiobook at the same time, or vice versa.
Like this? Check out our audiobooks
Audiobooks or podcasts?
Audiobooks are in monologue form. This means one person speaks for a long time. This is great if the speaker has a particular accent which you would like to understand and/or practise, e.g. Southern/Northern English, Welsh, Scottish, etc. It also means you can focus on accuracy; books are written in 'proper' English. This means they use long, expressive, complex, advanced and idiomatic sentences.
What you can get from one, you can't really get from the other.
Podcasts are different. The speakers use colloquial ('real') English like slang. And because it's a back and fourth exchange, the language will be more 'chopped up'. And of course the intonation and rhythm of podcasts will probably be much more lively and dynamic than an audiobook. Think about the difference between a newsreader and someone on a chat show.
So is one better than the other? No. In fact audiobooks and podcasts should be used in tandem as they are equally valuable. What you can get from one, you can't really get from the other. But that's another story for another blog post.
If you liked this post and you're itching to listen to an audiobook, then check out 'Learn English Through Story | ASMR ''The Wizard of OZ'' on our YouTube channel, or scroll down to watch it down below. And if you like any of the teachers in our videos, why not take a trial lesson with one of them? You never know, they may just read you part of the story...
Vocabulary takeaway
have somebody/something in mind (for something)
in tandem (with somebody/something)
Watch this video on the Britcent YouTube channel, where you'll find videos, podcasts, audiobooks and more...
Please note: These blog posts are written in informal, conversational English.
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