Audiobooks

 

            Books! Reading! Learning!

            I am a bookworm, better yet, a book dragon. If you see me reading, you can be sure I am in a happy place though my eyes might well up at times depending on the plot. And yes, I am always carrying a book or my e-reader. However, I get high on the smell of a paperback.

 I love reading what other people indicate and every now and then I tend to ask what they are reading via social medias or in person. Since I teach teenagers, I end up reading a lot of books written for this age group. I have learned to appreciate these books because they are easy to read and once you begin, you do not want to put them down. 400 pages in an afternoon is easily absorbed in one sitting.

Nonetheless, I belong to two book clubs. One where we only read Japanese authors and the other classic and contemporary authors from many different countries. In both clubs the books read are in Portuguese, which I have joined to improve my Portuguese. It is working because now I feel my fluency in writing in Portuguese has improved a lot and I am able to read faster than I was used to doing.

            Reading a book in one sitting is fantastic; however, there are some books that need to be read which are more classic and the language is tougher. For example, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Great novel, however, the language used is quite hard, mainly the vocabulary used by some of the characters. As I have said, great novel. I do read rather fast (took a speed-reading course many years ago) however, when I read the classics, my brain gets stuck on how to pronounce some of the words. Maybe it is because I like to learn new words. Perhaps it is because I am a language teacher and pronunciation is important.

            Whatever the reason may be, I have discovered that the audiobook has helped me appreciate the classics (mainly in Portuguese) much more. These audiobooks are read by professional readers, mostly actors, and they do read them in a way that keeps you interested. For example, I listened to one in which the reader changed his voice for each character. It was amazing. You can listen to them, in my case, while cooking or cleaning.

            When you see that the audio is 8 hours long, do not get discouraged. Two mornings in the kitchen is enough for that. Sometimes, I also take the book and follow along. But in this case, sometimes I stop when the word is new for me, which is not bad, but not the purpose of the activity.

            If you are reading to improve your grammatical structures and vocabulary, I recommend you read the book and keep a notebook to jot down the new words. However, if you are reading for pleasure, audiobooks are fantastic!

Written: January 24, 2022

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