Audiobooks in English stories. Audiobooks in English, and where to download them
Stage 1 (Elementary): This is the beginner level. Audio books of this level are distinguished by simple vocabulary and elementary grammar.
Stage 2 (Beginner): audiobooks are also simple from a lexical and grammatical point of view, easily understood by beginners to learn a language.
Stage 3 (Pre-Intermediate): audio books of “moderate severity”, there are still no special difficulties, however, in terms of grammar, a very wide range of grammatical tenses is already used here.
Stage 4 (Intermediate): audio books of this level are already approaching in terms of their lexical and grammatical complexity to natural works of art.
Stage 5 (Upper-Intermediate): fifth-level audio books are almost authentic works of art with a small adaptation of overly complex and not widely used grammatical constructions, as well as small lexical corrections.
All audio books are given texts, which is designed to facilitate listening in case of difficulty.
Elementary Beginner Pre-Intermediate Intermediate Upper-Intermediate
Tim Vicary “The Elephant Man”.
He is not beautiful. His mother does not want him, children run away from him. People laugh at him, and call him ‘The Elephant Man’.
Mark Twain “Huckleberry Finn”.
Who wants to live in a house, wear clean clothes, be good, and go to school every day? Not young Huckleberry Finn, that’s for sure. So Huck runs away, and is soon floating down the great Mississippi River on a raft. With him is Jim, a black slave who is also running away. But life is not always easy for the two friends. And there’s 300 dollars waiting for anyone who catches poor Jim. . .
Rudyard Kipling “Jungle Book”.
In the jungle of Southern India the Seeonee Wolf-Pack has a new cub. He is not a wolf - he is Mowgli, a human child, but he knows nothing of the world of men. He lives and hunts with his brothers the wolves. Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther are his friends and teachers. And Shere Khan, the man-eating tiger, is his enemy.
O. Henry “New Yorkers Short Stories”.
A housewife, a tramp, a lawyer, a waitress, an actress - ordinary people living ordinary lives in New York at the beginning of this century. The city has changed greatly since that time, but its people are much the same. Some are rich, some are poor, some are happy, some are sad, some have found love, some are looking for love.
Daniel Defoe “Robinson Crusoe”.
I often walked along the shore, and one day I saw something in the sand. I went over to look at it more carefully. . . It was a footprint - the footprint of a man! ’. In 1659 Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on a small island off the coast of South America. After fifteen years alone, he suddenly learns that there is another person on the island. But will this man be a friend - or an enemy?
Joyce Hannam “The Death of Karen Silkwood”.
This is the story of Karen Silkwood. It begins with her death. Why does her story begin where it should end? Certain people wanted her death to be an ending. Why? What were they afraid of? Karen Silkwood had something to tell us, and she believed that it was important. Why didn’t she live to tell us? Will we ever know what really happened? The questions go on and on, but there are no answers. This is a true story. It happened in Oklahoma, USA, where Karen Silkwood lived and worked. . . and died.
Rosemary Border “The Piano”.
One day, a farmer tells a farm boy to take everything out of an old building and throw it away. ‘It’s all rubbish,’ he says. ‘In the middle of all the rubbish, the boy finds a beautiful old piano. He has never played before, but now, when his fingers touch the piano, he begins to play. He closes his eyes and the music comes to him - and the music moves his fingers. When he opens his eyes again, he knows that his life is changed for ever ...
Erich Segal “Love Story”.
This is a love story you won’t forget. Oliver Barrett meets Jenny Cavilleri. He plays sports, she plays music. He’s rich, and she’s poor. They argue, and they fight, and they fall in love. So they get married, and make a home together. They work hard, they enjoy life, they make plans for the future. Then they learn that they don’t have much time left.
Frances Burnett “The Secret Garden”.
Little Mary Lennox is a bad-tempered, disagreeable child. When her parents die in India, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle in a big, lonely, old house. There is nothing to do all day except walk in the gardens - and watch the robin flying over the high walls of the secret garden. . . which has been locked for ten years. And no one has the key.
Jerome K. Jerome “Three Men in a Boat”.
With ideas like this, perhaps it is not a good idea to spend a holiday taking a boat trip up the River Thames. But this is what the three friends - and Montmorency the dog - decide to do. It is the sort of holiday that is fun to remember afterwards, but not so much fun to wake up to early on a cold, wet morning.
Emily Bronte “Wuthering Heights”.
The wind is strong on the Yorkshire moors. There are few trees, and fewer houses, to block its path. There is one house, however, that does not hide from the wind. It stands out from the hill and challenges the wind to do its worst. The house is called Wuthering Heights. When Mr Earnshaw brings a strange, small, dark child back home to Wuthering Heights, it seems he has opened his doors to trouble. He has invited in something that, like the wind, is safer kept out of the house.
Choose an accent: British or American
Adapted audio books are divided into British and American. You need to decide in advance which particular emphasis you want to develop for yourself. A clear beautiful pronunciation is a respect for the language and the interlocutor.Below are two audio files that will help you make a choice.
| British accent | American accent |
Choose the one that is closer to the soul. Do not be afraid to relearn from one emphasis to another - this is not long.
By the way, professional Western actors are fluent in both British and American pronunciation. If you want to conquer Hollywood, develop both. :)
Choose a level: from Beginner to Advanced
Adapted audio books in English are distinguished by level. There are six of them:
- Beginner (Beginner 1)
- Elementary (Beginner 2)
- Pre-intermediate (below average)
- Intermediate (Medium)
- Upper Intermediate
- Advanced
How to work with adapted audiobook
The audiobook includes:
- Text version of the book. Usually in PDF
- Audio version of the book. Usually in MP3 format
Most importantly, do not overtake the speaker. He is the leader, you are the slave. Read after him.
Working on this scheme, you are developing three of the four main skills:
- Speaking
- Listening Perception
- Reading
Additional recommendations: 
- Preliminarily advise reading the original book in Russian. This will help you better understand the plot. After that, working with the English version will be much easier
- Exercise daily30-40 minutes. If it seems a little - increase time, but without prejudice to pleasure
- Periodically return to audio books that you especially liked
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, An 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!
Listening to audio books is not only an important stage in learning a language, but also a good idea for spending your free time.
Types of audiobooks
Audio books in English are of two types: adapted and original.
Adapted Audiobooks - those books that have been simplified for people with a certain set of knowledge. This means that they use separate vocabulary (on a specific topic) and simple grammatical constructions. Adapted audio books in English help to improve your skills in a particular topic. For example, you can go through one topic in the process of learning a language, and then consolidate your knowledge with an adapted book.
Original books not adaptable, respectively, they are harder to perceive, but they help to completely immerse themselves in the language environment and demonstrate more complex vocabulary and grammar.
What skills can you get when listening?
Listen to online audiobooks in English is necessary for the development of several skills. These include:
- Vocabulary replenishment;
- Familiarization with new grammatical constructions or analysis of old ones;
- Development of speaking skills;
- Memory training.
Benefits of Audiobooks
Audio books in English can be used not only by beginners, but also by people with a high level of language. For effective language learning, audio books in English are used at levels, among which everyone can choose the most suitable for themselves.
It is highly recommended that you DO NOT use audio books that are easy to read to learn the language. This will not give any result or progress in knowledge, and therefore it is better to choose more complex books in order to progress in your knowledge.
Audiobooks for learning English have many advantages. These include:
- The ability to perceive information by ear is developing. If while reading you can remember only the spelling of a word, then while listening you can also familiarize yourself with the pronunciation. For example, you can download an application in which, along with a plain text, you can see a text version in front of you;
- You can listen to audio books in any situation, even on the road somewhere, which saves time. It is considered optimal to listen to audio books while driving a car;
- Listening to audio books allows you to not strain your organs of vision;
- The speech of recording audio books has a specific emphasis, each time different from each other, which is incredibly useful during language learning. An important point is that you must familiarize yourself with all possible pronunciations so as not to get confused.
Learn English with audiobooks
Audio books in English for beginners will help you immerse yourself in the language environment, and thereby speed up the process of learning the language.
Listening to audio books develops the skill of intuitive understanding of the language, and if you also work simultaneously with the database of new words and grammatical constructions that you find in the book, this will only improve the process of understanding and learning.
A method is also useful when the text is not only listened to at the same time, but also is in front of the eyes.
conclusions
It is also advised to gradually increase the level of complexity of books, and then gradually move from adapted books to original ones. Often adapted books are not only simplified by the authors, but also completely retold, which does not fully enjoy the work and all the literary devices of the author.
The place and time for listening to audiobooks should be as comfortable as possible so that you can concentrate on listening and not be distracted by other factors.
This section provides examples of adapted audio books for learning English at different levels, which are suitable for beginners to learn English, as well as continuing.