Audio stories in English. The best audio books in English

Earlier we talked about how you can develop the listening skill: by listening to English-language radio, visiting conversation clubs, or watching films and TV shows in English. They help to improve the perception of English by ear and audio books, and we’ll talk about them today.

Audio books in English have several advantages that even the most ardent fans of print media cannot ignore.

At first, an audiobook develops the ability to perceive English-language information by ear, while reading a regular book, you remember only the spelling of words.

Secondly, You can listen to an audiobook in a situation where you are not comfortable reading: in transport, doing housework, walking, etc.

Thirdly, Audiobook allows you to relieve tension from the organs of vision. If you are often sitting at a computer, it’s better to save your eyesight and listen to some books, rather than read.

Fourth, good audio books are recorded by professional actors, which means you can be absolutely sure of the quality of pronunciation and clarity of speech.

Disadvantages of audio books in English

Audio books form only one skill: listening to English-language information. That is why they cannot completely replace print media. Regular books let you memorize the spelling of words. When listening to an audiobook, you have to adapt to its pace. When reading a regular book, you scroll through some points or skim through them, and re-read several paragraphs several times. When listening to an audio book, you will not have such an opportunity. Of course, you can listen to a certain passage again, but the choice of the pace of reading remains with the creators of the book. In addition, some people at a subconscious level do not perceive audio books:

“I don’t like audio books: my inner voice is furious when he doesn’t read books to me”

How to choose the right audiobook?

Before downloading an audiobook in English, determine which one you need. The choice will depend not only on your literary preferences, but also on the level of English, and also on the goals that you want to achieve when listening to the work.

You can download audio books in English for beginners. If your level of English is no higher than Pre-Intermediate, it is best to start listening to short stories and stories. In addition, you can download audio books in English with a translation into Russian. This method will allow you to replenish the vocabulary with new words. If you like fairy tales, we can recommend you download children's books in English.

If you are not confident in your abilities to easily perceive English speech by ear, do not start listening to books in English with classical works: you can download adapted audio books in English. Another interesting option for learning English using audiobooks: download audiobooks in English with text. Thanks to the simultaneous reading and listening to an audio book, you intuitively connect the letter spelling of words with its pronunciation, remember new words, train reading, listening, writing skills.

You can also select a book by category:

fiction or non-fiction
narrator: woman or man
american or British English
adapted or non-adapted literature

Where can I download audio books in English?

We offer TOP-6 of the best sites, thanks to which you can download audio books in English absolutely free. If you are interested in questions about where to download audio books in English to mp3, where to find audio books in English for Android, how to download audio books in English for iPhone, you can find answers on the proposed portals.

We wish you success in learning the language!

“Unread books can take revenge,” - Ray Bradbury wrote. But how can a modern person with a frantic pace of life not make "avengers"? There is a way out - listen to audio books, and if you do this also in English, you will get double benefit. We will tell you how to learn English using audio books, why you need to listen to them and how to work with them. And at the end of the article you will find links to 7 excellent sites with audio books in English for children and adults.

What kind of audiobook to listen in English

If you do not know English at a high level, then not all books will be equally useful. Let's see what materials can be found on the Internet and which audiobook to listen to in English. Types of audio books:

1. By type of filling

Books voiced by a professional speaker (native English speaker) - such books are ideal for those who want to listen to good English and learn to speak like a native speaker. If you are going to repeat the words behind the announcer, learn the correct intonation and the correct pronunciation, then this type is “shown” to you. Books read by a professional announcer are universal material that is suitable for any listening purpose. They have only one minus - they are not easy to find in the public domain.
Books voiced by ordinary people (native English speakers) - such books are well suited for people with a knowledge level and above. If you want to get used to the different accents in English and want to improve your listening comprehension, opt for these books. The most important advantage of this type of audiobooks in English is that they are easily found in the public domain. However, if your level of knowledge is below average, then speaking native speakers will be difficult. In addition, the audio track is most often recorded in a normal home environment, so the sound quality is poor.
Books voiced by Russian-speaking teachers or linguists are another good option for people with a low level of knowledge. Audio is usually recorded in professional studios, all words are pronounced clearly, it will be easy for you to understand them. On the other hand, the intonation and pronunciation of the Russian speaker is still slightly different from the intonation and pronunciation of the native speaker.
Books created using special computer programs (Text-To-Speech) are not the best option for learning English using audio books. The program is not able to voice the text in such a way as to obtain a natural coherent speech with intonation characteristic of native speakers.

2. By complexity

Children's tales and stories are the simplest material that adults should not neglect. Children's books are usually read by professional broadcasters at a measured pace. Moreover, the texts are also easy to understand due to vocabulary: children's books use a limited set of the most frequently used words.
Audio books with reference text are good material for those who find it difficult to understand foreign speech by ear: you can listen to the book and follow the text with your eyes. In addition, such materials are convenient to use if you are going to learn new words: you can see their spelling in the text.
Standard audio books - materials for people with Intermediate level and above. These are common recordings for native speakers, so they are not always easy to understand. On the other hand, on the Internet you can easily find texts for almost any audio, and this will help you understand the book.

In addition, we advise you to try to listen to an audio book, the text of which you have repeatedly read in Russian. Surely every person has a favorite work of an English-speaking author. If in Russian you remember it very well, then it will be easier for you to understand the audio recording in English.

The benefits of audio books in English

One of the most difficult skills in learning English is listening comprehension. To learn to understand foreigners, you need to listen to them often. Therefore, if you do not live abroad and do not communicate daily with native speakers, you need to look for affordable ways to practice listening. The best helpers in this business are podcasts and audio books. Read about. Now let's find out what is useful in learning English from audiobooks:

1. You improve your listening comprehension

This is the main reason why audio books in English are very popular among students. The more we listen, the faster we get used to foreign speech and begin to understand it. And given the fact that most of the free audiobooks are voiced by native speakers who are not professional speakers, you can also listen to people with different pronunciation. Someone will be lisping, someone - making fuzzy sounds, someone - talking too fast - this is a great workout for your listening skill.

2. You get used to the sound of coherent speech

Announcers do not pause between words and pronounce each phrase with natural intonation. You will gradually get used to lively speech, and subsequently it will be easy for you to understand what the foreign interlocutor is saying.

3. You learn new words and phrases in context

If we are sometimes too lazy to find and learn words from podcasts or study texts, then an unfamiliar word, which plays an important role, will necessarily cause a desire to find out what is at stake. Words that are important for understanding the meaning will be easy to remember, because you learn them in context and understand how they are used.

4. You listen and remember how grammar is used in live speech

In theory, you understand very well when you need to use Present Perfect, but when it comes to using this time in speech, you are confused and do not know if it will be appropriate to use it? Listening to audio books in English will help you understand how any grammatical construction works in practice. If you will not only passively listen to the recording, but also think about how this or that time is used, then you will understand the principle of work of the English grammar not in theory, but in practice.

5. Do you study English wherever convenient for you?

Audio books in English are portable training materials. You can take them with you anywhere by downloading to your smartphone or tablet. So if you are not interested in listening to others on the way to work, listen to the audiobook. Find out how you can still use your gadget for training from the article "".

6. You are developing

Those unread books that could take revenge on you now do not represent a danger, because you listen to them. If reading is not always possible to devote time to, then even the busiest person can afford to listen to an audiobook. Moreover, you can read not only fiction, but also professional literature or books on self-development, then you will also be engaged in self-education, without spending a minute of free time on it.

7. You do it with pleasure

We all understand that we need to “accustom” ourselves to the sound of foreign speech, but not everyone likes podcasts. They are uninteresting to some people. Audio books are no less addictive than coffee in the morning. If you choose an interesting book, you will be carried away by the plot so quickly that you will look forward to hearing the next passage of your favorite work.

How to listen to audio books in English

You can simply listen to an audiobook and have fun, it is suitable for those who understand English well by ear. And what about those who are not easy to understand English? For them, there is a technique that, with regular use, will significantly improve listening skills. How to do it? Use a simple technique:

Listen to a small passage from a book, for example, take one chapter. It's okay if you do not understand every word, at this stage try to catch the general meaning of what was said.
Take the text of the book and turn on the recording. Listen to the announcer and at the same time follow your eyes for the text. Do not focus on unfamiliar words; try to guess their meanings from the context.
If you want to replenish your vocabulary, then select unfamiliar words in the text with a marker, then write them out of the text and learn.
The day after learning new words, listen to the audio recording of the chapter again, do not use the text, try to understand the maximum of information by ear.
Want to improve your pronunciation with your favorite book? Then listen to the speaker and repeat the text behind him, trying to copy all the sounds and intonation of the native speaker. If you decide to use this technique, you need to find an audio recording read by a professional announcer with the correct pronunciation.

Where to download audio books in English: 7 best sites

Children's audio books

Storynory.com is a site with children's stories in English. Ideal for those who do not perceive English well by ear: a native speaker with clear diction reads simple children's stories. The recording text is located right there, and all audio files can be downloaded for free.
Bookbox.com is a site with children's fairy tales. There are no texts for the recordings, the possibility of listening online too. But you can download any audio story for free and listen in your free time. The text uses simple vocabulary, which you can easily understand.

Audiobooks with texts

Etc.usf.edu is one of the most convenient sites for working with audio books. Each piece is conveniently divided into chapters, and text is attached to the audio recordings. You can listen to audio and follow the text on the site, and you can download MP3 recordings and text in PDF format. It should be noted that the audio recordings are presented in professional quality, so you may not need the text.
Nikolledoolin.com is a resource with a small selection of audio books, but there is text for all of them, so it’s convenient to work with it if it’s hard for you to understand audio recording without text.

Audio books in English of different genres

Librivox.org is a resource thanks to which there are more and more free audio books in English every day. Following the link, you will see two buttons: Volunteer and Catalog. The Volunteer button will lead you to a page for volunteers - people who read books in English and put them on this site. The Catalog button will send you to the book catalog. You can easily find the audio recording you need by using the site search. You can listen to any book online or download for free.
Loyalbooks.com is a resource where you can find more than 7000 free audio books in English. All audio files are conveniently divided into chapters, you can listen to them online or download. Most of the recordings are read by professional speakers, the sound quality is good, so it will be easy for you to make out the words.
Thoughtaudio.com is a site with free audiobooks in English. Records are presented in good quality, divided into chapters of the book, they can be downloaded for free or listen directly to the site.

Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled “This could change your life”.

Books can be dangerous. The best of them should have a warning: "This book can change your life."

Helen Exley

We hope you take advantage of our tips on how to learn English using audiobooks. In this article, we presented 7 wonderful resources, and in one of the following articles we will tell you about 10 cool sites with free audiobooks. Do you want to be the first to know about them? Then subscribe and get valuable advice from our teachers and useful links once a week!

Learning a language will quickly give fruitful results if you approach it diversely, developing all the necessary skills in parallel with each other. One lesson should be devoted to grammar, a second vocabulary and reading, a third speaking, and a fourth listening comprehension. Moreover, all skills can be tightened during one lesson, which is greatly helped by audio books in English for beginners. With them, students learn new vocabulary, observe the application of grammar in practice, perceive the English accent and improve their pronunciation. In this article, we present some of the best English books for beginners.

Books are a good method for learning English, but you need to be able to work with it correctly.

Just note that we strongly recommend that beginners use only adapted versions of English works. Yes, everyone wants to immediately learn to understand the text in the original language, but miracles do not happen. Clutching at complex stories, you will become entangled in the grammar and the large volume of new vocabulary, and as a result, abandon such an important matter as working out the perception of English speech.

Adapted audio books in English for beginners are written in simple grammatical constructions, and the whole story is revealed with the help of several hundred expressions of active basic vocabulary. The exact number of words depends on the level of preparation of the student: for beginners, they are about 200-300, for holders of basic knowledge 300-600, for the middle course more than 1000, etc.

Teaching English in books consists of several stages:

listening to audio recordings;
reading text;
work with vocabulary and translation;
repeat listening.

First you perceive the English language by ear, then you work through obscure moments by reading, write out and learn new words. And the next day, consolidate all the material studied by re-listening to the audio recording.

So, the time has come to move from the theoretical analysis of the methodology to its practical implementation. Below are the most interesting and easy books on learning English.

Adapted English audio books for beginners

Here you can download your favorite audiobook and its text version, or view a short educational video with a story.

Starter Level

Quite small works are ideal for those who have just begun to learn English.

The Umbrella (by Clare Harris)

A touching story, the action of which begins with a cloudy rainy day, and ends with warmth and comfort in the soul. A fascinating detective-romantic story will not leave indifferent fans of this genre.

Ski race (by Eleanor Jupp)

A dynamic narrative of competition at a ski resort and the will of the participants to win. Sport is not only strength and excitement, but also the cunning of rivals. Will the heroes win this ski relay?

Alissa (by C. J. Moore)

The story of a little girl Alice, who loves to read and learn. She is hardworking, kind, smart, honest and complaisant. However, few people in the modern world appreciate such qualities, so our heroine will have to go through many troubles and misadventures. Are they able to eradicate in a curious girl her desire for good and knowledge? Find out at the end of the story!

Sara says no (by Norman Whitney)

And this audiobook tells the story of the girl Sarah, who helps her father to work. Trading on the market is a very profitable business, but not always honest. Childish naivety and faith in goodness and justice is clearly not the place. But sometimes miracles happen and the world gets better, right?

Beginner Level

Books are suitable for those who have been studying the language for several months. The works are equipped with a glossary and small assignments.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (by Mark Twain)

The most famous children's book, which, according to the author, was written just for adults. With the hooligan and restless Tom, you will plunge into the fascinating world of fun and adventure. Do not miss the opportunity to get acquainted in the original with a classic work that has earned good fame around the world.

Sherlock Holmes. The blue diamond (By Arthur Conan Doyle)

Another classic whose hero is known all over the world. Why listen and read this book? Elementary Watson. A detective story from a recognized pen master will appeal to not only connoisseurs of the genre, but also to those who for the first time want to get acquainted with the deductive method of Sir Sherlock Holmes.

Elementary Level

These texts are intended for students studying English for more than six months. The stories use more than 1000 words, and they are also provided with additional questions to the text.

The woman in black (by Susan Hill)

The mystical story, which became the basis for the sensational film adaptation. This book is a kind of cocktail that many will like. Its components: a Gothic atmosphere, a classic English nebula, a little detective story, a bit of mysticism and, of course, an unexpected ending. The author managed not only to withstand the stress throughout the story, but also to combine it with a very dynamic plot. The book is read and listened very excitingly and quickly.

Frankenstein (by Marry Shelley)

The classic is a fascinating mix of Gothic romance with science fiction. A talented scientist comprehends the most terrible secret of life and uses this secret to conduct his own experiments. As a result, not wanting it, he begets a monster, which for many years becomes his curse. Whether the creator will triumph over his creation or become its victim will only be known in the denouement of history.

This is an exciting moment of triumph for a student, when, using recently studied vocabulary while communicating with a foreigner, comes the realization that he was understood. A word is, first of all, a set of sounds. In order to talk freely with people, you need not only to be able to speak, but also listen effectively. How to achieve this, you ask. Audio books in English online will come to the rescue. Find the best of them!

Fortunately, there are many interesting resources and services on the Internet for listening to audio online. But first, we offer to find out what cool buns offer audio books in English for beginners:

Firstly, they help to overcome the problem of decoding words and determining meanings. Visual and auditory information acquisition contributes to better recognition of vocabulary and fluency of speech, increase vocabulary and, in general, the development of speech understanding skills.
Secondly, while listening to audio books in English, the student concentrates on the meaning of words and expressions based on the context and a specific situational model of the text, and not on recognition of individual lexical units. Thus, the learning process becomes more efficient, and mastering new material is easier and faster.
Thirdly, this is of course self-esteem. Audiobooks help get rid of frustration, and also have a beneficial effect on self-confidence. Since listening to such books is not only a pleasant pastime, but also an activity that is specifically aimed at the student's independent work.
And finally, the last, but not least, fourth fact: books in audio format instill interest in the literature and culture of the language being studied, broaden their horizons and influence their worldview. This is a key factor for achieving future life goals.

Online audio books in English

pros: The electronic resource offers audiobooks combined with English text and a translation into Russian, which will make it possible to more effectively and easily hear English-language speech. Content mainly consists of works by British classics and includes the following famous poets and novelists: Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle, O. Henry and others.

Minuses: primitive interface and inconvenient search bar.

pros: one of the best free resources for educational and cultural studies. The site has collected content from all over the Internet, including a wonderful collection of audio books (primarily classics) that you can listen to online or download in the desired audio format for later use. English audio books are sorted by genre: fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The names of the authors are listed in alphabetical order.

Minuses: unremarkable site design, search criteria for the desired book are located on the right side of the home page.

pros: one of the first and largest projects where you can find audio books in English for beginners to listen online. The site offers an extensive collection of books with two types of sound: machine and from a native speaker. However, it is better not to resort to the first option, if possible. Who is pleased to listen to Jack London’s Call of the Ancestors in the voice acting of the emotionless question-answer system Siri, right? Lists of books are distributed by the names of the authors, the name of the work and language.

Minuses: Fine print, red colors are used in the links to make your eyes tired.

pros: A decent selection of non-fiction and fiction with the ability to download from the site for only $ 9 / month. By subscribing, you get access to all the audio materials of the site. Listen to English audio books online or on the go with the Scribd app for Android and iOS. In addition, Scribd makes it easy to find what interests you either through the search bar at the top of the page, or by choosing one of the categories: themes, best sellers, recommendations from the New York Times and literary prize winners.

Minuses: Compared to other paid resources, content is limited.

pros: A minimalistic site in black and white style was created with the support of the Florida Methodological Training Center and contains free audio books in English for beginners (with text) that can be viewed by author, title, genre, selection and even vocabulary. It will appeal to those who need audio books in English for beginners. Most audio in English can be downloaded in mp3 format or as excerpts from specific chapters.

Minuses: You have to scale the page due to the small print.

pros: A store where you will find audio books in English online. Each month, the catalog is replenished with thousands of items. Download audio books in mp3 or as segmented files of the desired chapters in m4b and listen to them on the site or on any device that has Downpour installed (supported for Android, iOS and Windows Phone). Data is automatically saved and synchronized on different devices, so you can play or listen to audio books in English as much as you want. The service works like an online store: buy books or subscribe for $ 13 / month.

Minuses: paid resource.

pros: the site presents a diverse collection of audio books in English, more than 30,000, but, unfortunately, not all of them are free. However, by clicking on the “Free Stuff” tab at the top of the home page, you get access to a fairly extensive selection of free audio books. There you can find the right book by genre, popularity and format. Also, the site allows you to use the advanced search option, which includes the following options: category, subcategory, publisher name, publication number, publication date, etc. Each month, the library gives users access to an audiobook, which, according to the editors, is worth paying attention to. All information is on the left side of the site.

Minuses: Missing audiobook cover preview function. Website design - for everybody.

pros: Another free alternative with access to classic audiobooks. The simple website design and the interface that imitates a bookshelf make it easy to find material by name, popularity, year of publication and user rating. Want to listen to Ulysses by James Joyce or inspirational Broadway musicals? Not a problem! Download the necessary chapters or entire works from the site. Selected mp3 files are automatically downloaded as archives with the zip extension.

Minuses: in general, the site is designed for students with a high level of knowledge of the language.

pros: A collection of original classic tales and short stories intended for children or beginners in learning English. At the moment, the site offers several hundred audio books to choose from, at least one new work is published every week. To play an audio file, an HTML5 player is used, which allows you to listen to audio books in English on almost any smartphone, tablet or browser.

Minuses: the design uses an eccentric font - it takes time to get used to it. Not suitable for advanced students.

Conclusion

English-language audio books allow students to learn a foreign language in a fun and effective way. Moreover, they affect self-esteem and create a situation in which a student, relying on independent work, is gradually but surely moving towards success. If you have never listened to an audiobook, we strongly recommend that you do so. You will be pleasantly surprised! And just in case, we warn that you can easily become addicted to them. So be careful! ;-)

Learn English fun and easy!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

Today we propose to consider the list of audikonig in English by difficulty level. Also for convenience, we include applications for downloading English audio books.

Listening to audiobooks is one of my favorite ways to learn a language. Firstly, it makes it possible to train several skills at once: to improve the perception of English speech by ear (fortunately, most speakers read quite slowly and clearly), hear intonations in English and introduce them into your speech and develop a sense of speech. Secondly, this makes it possible not only to improve English language proficiency, but also to broaden one's horizons and learn something new in general.

The great advantage of listening to books in English is that you don’t need to put extra effort into it - you turn on the next chapter and plunge into the world of heroes. Words and grammatical constructions are memorized passively by the assimilation method. And short chapters, which last about 10-30 minutes, make it impossible to get tired of listening. Usually, I listen to chapters 1-2 before bedtime, when I’m already, it seems, learning to be lazy, but you need to occupy yourself with something useful. For me, this is a peculiar method of learning a language for the lazy :).

A list of books is also available in the video:

Before we get to the books, I’ll leave a list of applications where you can download free audio books in English.

Applications with free audio books in English

For Android

The application is convenient in that there is a text for each book, so you can listen while reading a book, so you can see how an unfamiliar word is written and immediately find it in the dictionary. Perfect for beginners, those who still find it difficult to grasp the meaning of words from the context, as well as people who prefer to engage in “active” reading, checking the meaning of all unfamiliar words and writing them out for further study. Another advantage of the application is that in some cases several versions of the same book are provided, so you can choose the one that suits your level more.

They also have their own website where you can download a book in MP3 format and listen from a computer: Beelingo.

As in the previous application, it is possible to read the text in parallel. There are both free and paid books.

Here is a large collection of simple e-books and audio books, both by contemporary authors and classics. Interestingly, they also have their own website, where you can try to offer to publish their own work in English. Another useful feature of this application is that you can set a reminder when you plan to read.

For iOS:

A great application with a large collection of audio books and books in text format.

A library with 24,000 audio books available absolutely free.

In all of the above applications, books are divided by topic, so you can easily choose something to your liking. There is a section with popular books, with science fiction, with classical and modern literature, biographies, tips, detective stories, children's literature, etc. - it remains only to choose. For those who do not want to read long novels, there are sections with short stories where you can choose your preferred genre. And if you want to read a specific work for a long time, just enter its name in the search. You can download your favorite literature to your library, and listen to it when you have the mood and free time.

Since the literature here is not adapted to different levels, I recommend starting listening from the Pre-Intermediate level while reading the text.

And another tip is a little advice: if you decide to just listen to a book, it’s better to choose works that you are already familiar with. This will simplify the perception of what you hear. At least, it was a little easier for me, since in some works it is very important to understand almost every word, otherwise you can’t grasp its essence, and since you have already read this book, not knowing the words will not prevent you from understanding the plot and subtext of the book. And secondly, if you, like me, are used to reading books, rather than listening, the idea of \u200b\u200bwhat the book is about will allow you to quickly adapt to the “reading” of works in audio format. In addition, if you read a previously selected book in your native language, it will be very interesting to compare what you hear with the translation.

Audio books for learning English:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Level: Approximately Pre-Intermediate

The first work I read in English was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I read in paper format the adaptation for Pre-Intermediate. And when I decided to train listening through listening to electronic books, I decided to start with this book, because I was already familiar with it in English. I was a little afraid that the audiobook would be much more complicated than the adaptation that I read, but it turned out to be suitable for my level (then it was approximately an intermediate level between Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate). In addition, parallel reading of text was very helpful.

I think this book does not need a description, since everyone already knows what it is about and what is interesting :). However, it should be noted that the feeling that you listen to it in English and understand all the interesting statements from it, and it was also very interesting to hear and read the original pun used by Lewis Carroll in this book, is simply indescribable.

Black Beauty

Level: Pre-Intermediate

The story of the black horse, which he himself allegedly tells, will allow the reader to look into the depths of the noble horse soul. The book is written in a very simple language, and the only difficulty is the words associated with horse riding. Therefore, before you start listening, you should be a little prepared - see how in English there will be such words as a lynx, gallop, bridle, etc. It is easy both to read and just to listen. A very light, in fact, teenage (if you read in the original), touching story is perfect for the level of "below average".

Peter Pan / Peter Pan

Level: Pre-Intermediate

Another very popular tale that I listened to in English. And if “Alice” also encounters difficult moments for students of the level “below average”, then this book is quite simple both lexically and stylistically.

The story of the boy Peter, who does not want to grow up, is friends with the fairy Tinker Bell and knows how to fly is popular all over the world. Once Peter flew into the window of the children of the Darling family - a girl named Wendy and her younger brothers - and took them with him to the fabulous country of Neverland, where children always remain children. In this magical land, children meet mermaids, brave Indians and evil pirates led by Captain Hook, with whom they have to fight. A beautiful and easy-to-read tale will improve your understanding of English by ear and temporarily plunge into childhood.

John Barleycorn or Alcoholic Memoirs / John Barley Grain: Alcoholic Memories

For those with an average level, it is probably better to listen to a book with a text in front of your eyes so as not to miss anything. Above average, it's worth trying just listening.

A very interesting autobiographical story of one of the most prominent American writers, in which the author talks about his difficult relationship with alcohol.

Jack London shares his memories of drinking, from the time he first tasted alcohol as a child, to the moment he became a famous writer. This book is about the role that booze played in the life of the writer, and his fight against alcoholism.

Tales of Andersen

Level: Intermediate

The book that I downloaded to myself was called Little Match Girl, but in fact it is a collection that includes seven Andersen's tales. I love many of his works, which differ in depth and, in fact, are far from children's. The author poses to readers very serious philosophical questions that make you think for a long time. Listening to these tales in English was a pleasure. The stories in the book were short and in two evenings I listened to the entire collection. Now I plan to find an audio version of my favorite story G.Kh. Andersen's “Shadow” in English. By the way, it was very interesting to compare Russian and English translations.

Dracula / Dracula

Level: Intermediate - Upper-Intermediate

The mystical story of the vampire Dracula has become a real classic of its genre. This work is not only a fascinating plot, but also a very beautiful style of writing. The images are spelled out so precisely that when you listen to a book, you are immersed in its mysterious, slightly frightening atmosphere. I recommend that you look into the text while listening, since the book periodically contains archaisms and literary words.

Of Mice and Men / About Mice and Men

Level: Intermediate

Touching to the core, the story of two hard workers wandering in search of work during the Great Depression, and dreaming of collecting money for their own farm. Lenny is a mentally retarded, but physically strong and hardworking guy. He just loves everything fluffy, especially small mice. The guy is very kind and does not want to harm anyone, but he does not know how to calculate his strength, because of which, in a fit of tenderness, he squeezes the mice that he manages to catch and they die. Lenny is trying to obey his friend George, who is responsible for him. One day, friends take up seasonal fieldwork at a farm near Solidad ....

This is a story about life's difficulties, dreams of a better future, sincere friendship and the complexity of choice. The book is very versatile and makes you think about a lot.

I did not find this book in applications when I was preparing the article, but I myself listened to it here:

https://youtu.be/NtPyLB9jBC0

Canterville Ghost / Canterville Ghost

A satirical short story parodying Gothic novels and ironic over bourgeois society is definitely worth listening to in English.
A family from America buys a mansion, to which goes its old inhabitant - the cast of Simon de Canterville. The American family is not at all embarrassed by this nuance, but the poor bringing with new residents has a hard time ...

Four Weird Stories / Four Strange Stories

Level: Upper-Intermediate - Advanced

Short stories for those who like to tickle nerves with mystical stories. The writer deservedly occupied his niche among the masters of the horror genre, such as Lovecraft, James Montague and others. In order to understand this book you need to be fluent in English at a fairly high level, since here every detail plays an important role and contributes to the mental recreation of the atmosphere that prevails in the narratives.

The Prince and the Pauper

Level: Advanced

The story of the famous American writer about two apparently very similar boys - the prince and the poor - who switched roles. In his novel, Mark Twain portrays the flaws and absurdities of the English state system. The book should be listened to and read, fluent in English at a high level, as the author uses a very complex vocabulary, complex grammatical constructions. The book has a lot of sentences using inversions, which sometimes have to be listened to several times in order to understand.

These are just examples of what and at what level you can listen. For audio books in English to bring you pleasure, and listening to them be useful, focus on your own taste and how well you speak English. If the book you downloaded seemed too complicated - do not torture yourself, find something interesting simpler. After all, it is very important that you learn the language in joy.