The estimated reading time for this post is 2 minutes
If you’re headed on a trip this holiday season, listening to audiobooks may help you not only pass the time more quickly, but also help you develop your listening skills. Listening skills are more important than you might think, they can help you learn, keep you safe, make you a better employee and help you improve your personal relationships.
Listening can also lead to improved reading abilities in children. Audiobooks can help children in learning to listen and concentrate on verbal messages.
According to the educational website Reading Rockets, audiobooks can be used to:
- Introduce students to books above their reading level
- Model good interpretive reading
- Teach critical listening
- Highlight the humor in books
- Introduce new genres that students might not otherwise consider
- Introduce new vocabulary or difficult proper names or locales
- Sidestep unfamiliar dialects or accents, Old English, and old-fashioned literary styles
- Provide a read-aloud model
- Provide a bridge to important topics of discussion for parents and children who can listen together while commuting to sporting events, music lessons, or on vacations
- Recapture “the essence and the delights of hearing stories beautifully told by extraordinarily talented storytellers” (Baskin & Harris, 1995, p. 376)
from Benefits of Audiobooks for All Readers, by Denise Johnson at Reading Rockets.
This infographic from Tales2Go illustrates how audiobooks can help develop listening and reading skills:
So the next time you head out on a trip, consider listening to an audiobook to entertain and educate you and your family. You could arrive at your destination a better listener than when you left on your journey!
One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.
— Bryant H. McGill
Sources for Audiobooks:
Tales2Go
Tales2Go provides unlimited streaming of children’s audiobooks to your mobile device and computer. Tales2Go is available for:
iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
Android
Computers
You can get unlimited streaming free for 30 days. After the free trial period is over you can sign up for monthly or annual subscriptions.
My full review of Tales2Go: Tales2Go – Are We There Already?
Audible
Audible is Amazon’s audiobook site where you can buy thousands of audiobooks. You can download your first audiobook free and then purchase them individually or become a member of Audible to get discounts on audiobooks. With Whispersync for Voice, you may get a discount on an Audible book if you purchase a Kindle book first.
Find out more about Audible: What’s New at Audible
iTunes
Apple has a wide selection of audiobooks available through iTunes. Choose from topics such as technology, classics, arts & entertainment and audiobooks Latino.
Public Library
Check out your public library for audiobooks. You can borrow audiobooks for free, which may be a good way to learn which types of audiobooks are most enjoyable for you.
Other Sources
Also see, 2014 Best Audiobook Service Reviews and Comparison
Your Thoughts
Do you believe it’s important for children to develop listening skills? Do you like the idea of using audiobooks to develop listening skills? Do you wish more people had better listening skills? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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* Listen tile image by Steven Shorrock (edited to include Larry King quote)
Hi Carolyn – Public libraries are my favorite joints for audio books. I listen to a lot of fiction books on my way to work. I travel almost >1hr each way and that makes it perfect to listen to these books.
I still remember a quote which my dad used to say when I was young(not that am old now:-), he said, “you have 2 ears and 1 mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak”. Makes a lot of sense huh?
Great share of the infographic by the way. Thanks.
Hi Praveen, I’m so glad you enjoyed the infographic. That’s a great quote from your dad! So often we take listening for granted, but it really is an important skill. We need to learn, understand and communicate through listening.
It seems as if you’re getting great practice listening through your audiobooks, Praveen. They really can make a long commute in the car more bearable! Do you have any favorite audiobooks you’d like to share with us?
I am one person who like listening while driving or traveling and audiobooks are very helpful during this time. Am happy that you have shared this since it will as well help other people out there. ~ Anetta
Hi Anetta, That’s great that you’re a fan of audiobooks too. I enjoy audiobooks but I never knew their value beyond entertainment until I saw this infographic from Tales2Go.
Yes, I am excited to share this with our readers so they can see the many benefits of listening to audiobooks for themselves and their children.
I certainly can use all the help I can get to improve my listening skills because I sure can be a talker……:). My biggest challenge with audio books is staying engaged since I can read much faster than someone can talk. Maybe that means I should just slow down, huh?
Hope all is well and you are staying warm; pretty pleasant down in the FLA right now. Headed to Tallahassee tomorrow to see Seminoles play Syracuse.
Good news, Bill. With the Audible app you can speed up the reading of the audiobook up to 3x faster than normal. You can also slow it down to 0.75x normal if you need to concentrate more.
I hadn’t tried that feature before and I just did to see what happened. The narrator speaks quickly but the voice doesn’t turn into an Alvin and the Chipmunks impression, which is a good thing.
Go ‘Noles! (Though my daughter may be applying to the ‘Cuse so next year I may not be allowed to root for FSU.) :-bd
Hello,
Awesome infographics, well to be honest with you i’m not a fan to listening. After reading your post i feel like i missed so many thing no doubt listening is really important to built and develop skills.
It’s really helpful while traveling or the leisure time.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Anirudh, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, listening is important. So often we take listening skills for granted but like any skill, listening can be improved with practice. I hope you enjoy your audiobooks, Anirudh!
Hi Carolyn
I used to be a good listener but since I’ve been at home I think I’m losing the skill a little.
My kids love to listen to stories when we go on any long journeys and it helps to keep their minds focused and well away from, “are we there yet?”.
I must make use of audio books on my iPhone. There’s quite a few times during the day that I could be listening to them.
I’ll take a look at iTunes I think!
P.S. I couldn’t see the infographic but I’ll come back another time to see if it’s there.
Hi Tim, Thanks for pointing that out. I have fixed the image and now you should be able to see the infographic.
Yes, you should definitely check out both iTunes and audible.co.uk. Both will be fertile sources for audiobooks for you and your children. How great that you can be entertained and help your kids develop their reading skills at the same time!
Thank you Carolyn.
That’s some very interesting statistics on the infographic.
My son’s just currently starting to learn to read. I’m so glad my wife and I take the time to read to him for more than 20 minutes each day at bedtime.
It’s a pity my daughter won’t sit long enough to listen though. She just wants to turn over to the next page. It will come with time though.
Hi Tim, That’s such an exciting milestone for your son. Reading will open up new worlds for him. I am certain that your daughter will get the hang of it soon but her enthusiasm for finding out what happens next is wonderful too! :-bd
Audio books is the only way I consume books these days.
Hi James, Yes, I am right behind you. While I sometimes read books on my Kindle, I listen to audiobooks every day. They’re about the most convenient way to read a book. I love the experience of audiobooks. A talented narrator can make a book come to life.
Hello Carolyn!
I love this article! I honestly rarely ever listen to audiobooks, but this article has convinced me that maybe I really should start doing it more! To be honest, I often have a problem of tuning people out (particularly when I find what there saying to be not so interesting) and I feel that audiobooks might actually really help me with this! Thanks for sharing.
Looking forward to getting to know you more,
Josh May
Hi Josh, A warm welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, listening to audiobooks may help you with your concentration. Listening to books to find out what happens next may help you pay attention in conversations as well.
Why not try out a free audiobook? You may be entertained as you develop your listening skills!
i like that trick ,when we are on the trip of holiday as well as listening audio books ,bec we often alone on trip so our concentration are on one particular thing without westing our time we achieve something.
Hi Tushar, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Good point, while traveling you can actually accomplish something during your journey when you listen to audiobooks along the way. You can enjoy a book and hone your listening skills, even before you arrive! 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
Well, it depends on the learning style of every child or adult. Some people are “visual” some are “auditory”.
One interesting thing. Mass media today, especially TV but internet now plays a more important role now, develops the visual skills until a point that they become dominant.
This also develops imagination, affectivity, sensitiveness and intuition.
On the other hand, this affects reason, intellectual skills: the ability to think, to judge, to use logic, to create models in your mind etc. It also affects the power of mind to focus on one single thing (idea, problem etc.).
Sound is different. People who are more auditory in their learning tend to be able to develop a higher power of concentration. Being less inclined to accept visual stimuli they are less distracted by shiny objects. So, indeed, you can build focus, comprehension, fluency and improve your intellectual abilities with audiobooks.
Have a wonderful day
I think it can help child education because Early childhood education creates a solid foundation for further learning in school and so on. It is important for the future of a child, as they need to be modeled for what they want to do when they grow up. This encourages them to discover and develop their skills. It is through education that children will open their minds to a wider world and connect with what is happening around them at a much deeper level. It also helps them to realize the standard of living and sustain it. Children all over the world need to be educated so that they will make the right choices in the present and in the future. Child education provides children with the skills and knowledge, which will help them to prosper later in their lives.
Hi Torri, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re exactly correct. Childhood education is very important and enhancing that education through audiobooks can help a child develop in many ways. Thanks so much for sharing your insights with us, Torri!