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Audio books are great for children for many reasons. Like computers and TV, they are educational and entertaining. But their big advantage is they're low-cost, compact and portable.
As a mental stimulant, audiobooks are very powerful for exciting the imagination of a child. When you see movies, TV and video games, the visuals are provided. But hearing the spoken word means that children have to use their imagination to create mental images. Their mind will work hard and create and visualise the people, clothes, animals, monsters, buildings, castles and landscapes they hear described.
Their vocabulary will be boosted too. Without the distraction of visuals, they will be focussing on every word they hear, and in the process learning new words and how to use them. And let's face it, some children just don't like reading. So an audiobook can be a substitute for real books. The excitement and stimulation they provide often leads children towards paper books
later on.
If your children have trouble getting to sleep, an audiobook can be the perfect solution. They don't need the light on, they can listen in bed in the dark, and in this setting sleep will soon come. And if they share a bedroom with a sibling who is asleep, the other won't be disturbed at all.
It is when you're away from home and the large visual gadgets like TVs and computers, that audio books really come into their own for children. Journeys by plane, train or car can be boring for children, resulting in them being a nuisance to the adults they're with. But an audiobook that's one of their favourite subjects will keep them in voluntary silence for hours.
Often you may have to bring your children along with you to an appointment. It may be a job interview, or to consult a doctor, dentist, or lawyer. With audiobooks, your children will be as good as gold.
You may take your children along with you for a meal or a drink, as a family or with your friends. Often things start well as the meal to come maintains excitement. But once the food is eaten and the adults want to drink and chat, children start to get bored. With audio books on the menu, they'll be satisfied and peaceful the whole time.
One of the great things about audio books is that they are ideal for buying online as they are cheap, small and light. Your children can look at the online audiobook shop with you and choose the ones they want. A few days later they'll drop through the letterbox.
Technological advances are making audio books smaller, lighter, and able to hold many hours of sound. As such, they'll become increasingly popular with children.
The great thing about audiobooks is that they can fit into the wasted time in people’s lives, the times when you’re doing other things. So you can be entertained while you’re waiting for a bus or doing the laundry, working on the computer or just chilling out. With audiobooks you can enjoy TV sit-coms and comedy shows, perhaps ones you know very well or shows you didn’t experience the first time round but have heard people raving about.
One such treat is the madcap duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, who wowed audiences in
the 1960s and 1970s with their madcap brilliance. This nutty pair are known to many as ‘Pete and Dud’ who were actually two characters they played. Cook and Moore were responsible for some of the funniest, most surreal and inventive comedy material ever recorded.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were special because they were a great comedy team – Cook was elegant, sophisticated and upper class, while Moore was short and working class. The relationship they portrayed was that of an adoring puppy dog (Moore) who would follow his master (Cook) and always listen to his nutty babblings. Because of the class thing they had going on, there is something very British about their work.
A typical sketch would start with Cook saying something ridiculous and Moore indulging Cook by showing interest and asking him to elaborate further on his fascinating thesis. The conversation would then spiral into highly entertaining craziness. As satire, it showed the common person’s view of the upper classes as being pompous, unhinged and unconnected with reality.
One of the funniest things about Cook and Moore is when they ‘ad lib’ or ‘corpse’ and start laughing at eachother while trying to keep straight faces and deliver their lines. Of all comedy pairings, they are one of the most well known for doing this.
In fact they created their own style of comedy, exemplified by the hilarious ramblings of their cloth-capped characters Pete and Dud, who had the type of conversations we’ve all heard, at bus stops and in cafes and pubs, but with additional surreal twists of pure comedy genius.
You can get audio books containing some of their very best sketches, including the classics Art Gallery and Lengths. Their wacky conversation at The Art Gallery is a comedy masterpiece, where they ask eachother many questions, including:
* What would happen if the gauze landed in the wrong place?
* What happened to the little Botticelli cherubs?
* Who are the big bathers?
And, perhaps the most important question of all: what, exactly, would Dud's aunt Dolly have done for nothing?
In this sketch, these crazy art critics had their own opinions on whether a painting is a good one or not. Obviously, the sign of a good painting is when the subject's eyes follow you round the room. But what if the people in the painting are nude and have their backs to you? Well, their bottoms follow you round the room!
With the convenience of audiobooks you can re-live material you haven’t heard for years, or catch up on comedy masterpieces that you’ve only heard about but never had the chance to experience for yourself. The work of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore is a great place to start.
Many of us will sometimes dream of learning another language, but our demanding lives make it apparently impossible.
We’re just too busy doing what we have to do in our daily routine. We’re always on the go, with so much to be done every day.
Travelling to and from work, doing the shopping, exercising, looking after the household chores, tending the garden are just a few examples.
There just aren’t enough hours in the day for evening classes or reading text books and making notes. We couldn’t fit that in.
Well if you’re one of these busy people you’re in luck, because audio books will fit into your life very easily and pretty much do it for you.
Think of everything you have to do in life and consider how many of those activities you could do while listening to an audio book.
They’re not intrusive at all, just a tiny audioplayer in your shirt pocket and a couple of small earpieces in your ears.
If you think about it, there are many hours of everyone’s day when we’re doing things which could be doubled up with studying a language with the aid of audiobooks.
That way, you’d actually look forward to the boring tasks we all have to do every day, because while you’re doing them you could be mastering your skills in a new language.
Most people’s journey to and from work adds up to at least two hours a day, but for many others it will be a lot more.
Maybe an hour for lunch at work. Cooking and housework at home could be another two hours, and perhaps an hour exercising.
That’s six whole hours a day, 30 hours a week, 120 hours every month, when you could be studying that language you always wanted to learn.
And you don’t have to restrict your audio book listening just to when you’re busy and on the go.
Even relaxation, and all-important activity in itself, can be done while listening to a language audiobook.
You can close your eyes, really relax your whole body completely, and focus one hundred percent on the words you’re listening to.
And according to scientific research, even if you fall asleep, your sub-conscious mind will still be taking what you hear in, processing it and storing it away.
If you're looking for love with a foreign guy or girl, you’ll get on the right track with a little preparation using a language audiobook.
And just imagine being able to effortlessly order food and wine at the poshest foreign restaurants, either in your home country or overseas.
Trips to your favourite foreign countries will be so much more enjoyable if you can speak and understand the language.
You will be accepted by the people because they’ll respect your efforts to fit in.
It could also improve your career prospects, as many employers these days are looking for business people with language skills.
Learning another language really does open doors for you, and now it has never been easier, thanks to audiobooks.
People are talking about audiobooks more and more these days, but many aren’t aware of what material you can get on them. In fact there’s a very interesting and varied range of topics covered, and audiobooks showcasing stand-up comedians are one of the biggest sellers right now.
There are many reasons why this type of audio book is so popular. This is because comedy has such a profound effect on human emotions.
Comedy audiobooks are excellent for alleviating boredom when travelling, waiting for someone, exercising, cooking, doing office work, washing clothes, cleaning and tidying, the list is endless. Having a chuckle will make the time fly by, keep you motivated and productively on track.
There are many situations where we can get stressed, nervous, and unhappy. You may have missed your train, be sitting in a waiting room for a doctor or dentist, recovering from illness, injury, disappointment, shock or bereavement.
Having a laugh will help you through sad, difficult, depressing times. A comedy audiobook will lift your spirits and help you keep the blues at bay.
There are other situations which are stressful, but you really need to ‘perform’ with your usual confidence in order to get the outcome you want.
You could be going on a first date, appearing on stage, going to an interview, an appraisal, a tricky meeting, or asking your boss for a rise. Having a laugh will remove your feelings of unease and calm your nerves so you sparkle and shine like the star you really are, and get the result you really want.
Audio books enable you to walk around listening to some of the world’s top stand-up comedians on stage at the height of their powers. Imagine the effect that will have on your mood.
The mighty Billy Connolly in all his full-on, manic, hilarious glory will have you in stitches. Billy's full-flight school of delivery is unrelenting and comes at you like a Highland warrior in the heat of battle. Much of his material is autobiographical, dealing especially with his childhood in Glasgow, Scotland. Big Slipper and Incontinence Pants are a couple of his best sketches.
The surreal humour of Bill Bailey will really put a smile on your face. With his thin goatee beard, Bill calls himself "half troll", and "confused hippy". He appeared on the British comedy TV show Black Books, and entertains brilliantly as a personality on British TV panel games and chat-shows. Bill makes regular appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, and Have I Got News for You.
If you enjoy wry observation, listen to the Irish stand-up comedy genius Dylan Moran. Dylan is known for his effortless comedy brilliance, and his hilarious world-weary attitude. His often apparent drunkenness and his somewhat grumpy but warm and engaging delivery make him very similar to Dave Allen from the 1970s and Eighties. With a rich vocabulary, Moran has a surreal way of expressing things, accompanied by a wonderful lyrical Irish Whimsy. He just speaks his mind, whatever his mind may be saying at the time.
With audio books like these, you’ll be able to banish feelings of boredom, stress and unhappiness, and enjoy a happier, more confident and productive mental state.
When you’re going on holiday, don’t forget to take an audio book with you.
What is it about audiobooks that makes them such good holiday companions?
The thing is, the most modern audiobooks of today have developed to an interesting stage.
The current state of the art is audiobooks that are minute and lightweight that come complete with a battery and earpieces.
But although they’re small, each one can hold many hours of sound recording.
When you’re sunbathing, the priority is exposing your skin to the sun while protecting it with sufficient sun-block, and your eyes with sunglasses.
These priorities actually fight against the requirements for reading, where your eyes need to focus on fine print and your hands need to hold the book, magazine or newspaper so you can read it.
Sometimes sunbathers use the reading material as a kind of sunshade over their face and try and read that way, lying on their back with their sunglasses off, holding the book aloft.
Your eyes will be squinting and under strain. Also the sun won’t be getting to your face as it should be if you’re aiming to get an even tan.
Your arms will get tired from holding the book, and the sunscreen from your hands will stain the book cover and pages.
After a while your arms get so tired that you have to turn over on your stomach.
But in this position your eyes will get strained looking at a white page which is reflecting the sun’s rays. And you’ll have to prop yourself up on your elbows to read, which will again tire your arms after a while.
Audiobooks completely eliminate these problems. Listening through light earpieces, there’s nothing to hold and nothing to read. The player itself can lie next to you or tucked under the wristband of your shorts, trunks or bikini bottoms, leaving your hands free.
You can close your eyes, really relax your whole body completely, and focus one hundred percent on the story you’re listening to.
You can turn over without interrupting the story. Rub more sun-block in, sip a drink, nibble a snack, write a postcard, all while carrying on listening. If you need to get up and walk around, that’s fine too.
When you feel you’d like to take a break from listening, all you have to do is touch a button on the audiobook player and it will stop, marking the exact place where you need to pick up the story again.
The current breed of up to date audiobooks incorporate a clever bookmarking function which enables you to go back to the exact place that you left the story.
This will even happen if the battery stops working. This is a huge advantage over reading materials where, if someone talks to you, the chances are that you lose our place and find it quite hard to get back to where you stopped reading.
Today’s audiobooks are so small and unobtrusive. One of them can hold dozens of CDs worth of material or what is equal to a very large conventional book.
Soon, audiobooks will be on every holidaymaker’s check-list. A must-have, essential item just like your swimming costume, sunglasses and sun-block, but a whole lot more interesting and entertaining.
If you’re taking a flight, an audio book is one of the best possible things to have with you.
On the flight you’ll have some time to yourself. Depending on the flight it will be anywhere from one hour to twenty.
Office papers and laptops just get in the way on flights. And there’s the risk of your laptop being stolen when you go to the bathroom. Conventional reading materials have their own set of problems too.
So why are audio books so good on flights? Well, audio book technology really has come a long way. The latest audio books are small and light and come supplied with earphones and a battery. Room is at a premium on flights. Books, magazines and newspapers are difficult to handle and get in the way.
With these kinds of reading materials, when food arrives you have to interrupt your reading and get your book out of the way for the food and drinks. Also, at a certain point the cabin lights will be turned off to encourage the passengers to sleep. At this time, if you want to carry on reading you have to try to read with a small overhead light which is quite a difficult task.
To those air travellers in the know, the latest compact audiobooks get round all these problems straight away. They fit in your shirt pocket and have light earpieces. Your hands are free and they don’t need a surface to be placed on.
So food and drinks can be brought to you, eaten and cleared away while you continue listening uninterrupted. If the lights are turned off for people to sleep and you want to continue with the story, no problem. As you’re listening to it and not reading, you don’t need any light at all. If you do feel drowsy and want to stop listening, you just have to press a button on the player and it will stop, while bookmarking your place for you.
Yes, the latest audio books have a special bookmarking facility which automatically records where you stopped, even if the battery runs out. We all know the problem with reading materials when we get interrupted or need to take a break. We often lose our place and have difficulty knowing where we were.
If you want to keep listening for as long as possible, you can do so while you get up and walk around the plane to boost your circulation or go to the bathroom. Even if you were clever enough to be able to do these things while reading a book, you’d certainly get some funny looks. Not so with a couple of unobtrusive earpieces in your ears.
Because modern audio books are so compact and light, you can have the equivalent of many conventional books in your hand luggage. So you can laugh along with your favourite stand-up comedian or humorous sit-com, learn another language, or hear the latest blockbuster novel read to you by a professional cast with music and sound effects and great sound quality.
