Improve Your English
Learn English - Books
The Benefits Of Audio Books
By Ken Snodin
In today’s world, we are unable to find time to indulge ourselves in our favourite pastime or hobby. You find people who love literature but reading does not interest them. Surprised? Our world has become so digitized mainly due to our dependence on computers and also the availability of everything in a digitized format - be it songs or books. This has led to people losing interest in paper-based reading material. Hence, if you are looking at giving the gift of a book to someone, you might want to think of audio CD books as an alternative.
In terms of content, audio CD books are exact replicas of the printed version. Be it a self-help book or an epic, the audio version does not lose anything. Normally, a person who has a likeable voice recites these books. It could be a singer, a performer or a familiar voice from radio or television.
There are many other advantages of the audio CD books. If you feel peeved at the constant interruptions by commercials on your car radio, choose your favorite audio CD book title to keep you company. If you like philosophy, an audio rendition of Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco can be mesmerizing.
Audio books have something extra as compared to their printed counterparts. They can be effectively used as ancillary tools for learning for people with visual, mental or other learning difficulties. For example, people who are blind or people who have difficulty in reading like the elderly population can use them. Nowadays, many states and volunteer organizations have undertaken the efforts to get the printed books digitized into audio for the benefits of such people. In fact, some schools and teaching centers have a facility under which such students can order a course book that a professor is using to be converted into an audio CD book.
Having said that, you should not be surprised if you do not find an audio CD book that you so badly wanted to give as a gift to a perfect friend. Be it an audio copy of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ or an audio version of the posthumous work of genius Jonathan Kennedy O’Toole, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’. This is still a new phenomenon and will take some time before you can order any title of your choice as an audio file. Till that time, you can take heart from the fact that you would still be able to find some classic that you cherish and would like to ‘play’ the next time you take your sweetheart for a long sunset drive.