[237] How to Improve Your English Listening Skills with Audiobooks

 Improve Your English Listening Skills with Audiobooks

Today’s show is different. I introduce you to a new platform where you can ‘listen’ to your favourite books on Audio so you can improve your English listening skills. It’s an Audiobook platform for book lovers who want to improve their English listening skills with Audiobooks. If you’re an avid book reader I recommend you check it out. For more details check out the tools link below. Enjoy :)

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[221] How To Simplify A Conversation – Audio Book

Audiobook I talk about is: Sapiens: The Brief History of Human Kind by Yuval Noah Harari.

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Transcript Snapshot (Improve English listening skills with Audiobooks)

You’re listening to English Made Simple, this is episode number 2-3-7, number two-hundred and thirty-seven, numero doscientos treinta y siette.

Welcome back everybody, welcome back to the show. You’ve come to the right place if you want to improve your English in listening and speaking. This podcast will help you to build your vocabulary of new words, improve your listening so you can become fluent in English, one short conversation at a time.

Oki doki, so this is episode number 237. And my name is Milena and I am the host of the English Made Simple show, you can find me at www.englishmadesimple.net, englishmadesimple (punto) net.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Today we’re going to do the show differently. There won’t be a Repeat After Me segment. (Today is about: How to Improve Your English Listening Skills with Audiobooks)

Also, today’s show has been brought to you by My Tools – Tools I use to run English Made Simple. It also includes relevant resources for English learners that I recommend if you choose to study English at home.

I regularly update this link. I add new stuff in there from time to time.

So don’t forget to check out www.englishmadesimple.net/tools – there is something in there for English learners, for teachers of anyone who would like to start a podcast one day.

Alrighty, let’s dive straight in.

Let’s start today with a question.

How to Improve Your English Listening Skills with Audiobooks

I have a question for you amigos y amigas.

Do you like to read books? Do you like to read books in general?

Let me be more specific.

Do you like to read books in English?

I used to enjoy reading books… when I was a teenager, reading all the romance novels, and also books from the crime and horror genre. Actually, I do have a weird genre for a teenager, something I used to read when I was 12 years old (long time ago now) – I do remember I used to read books on psychology and human mind.

Remember, I used to go to the library and take books out by Sigmund Freud.

Who’s he?

There could be some psychiatrist and psychologist out there listening to the show, you’ll know who Sigmund Freud is. He’s being referenced a lot even in the movies.

According to the Wikipedia, Dr. Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst.

That was my introduction to psychology.

And today’s episode is not about psychology. So you can relax amigos y amigas.

I ain’t gonna psycho-analyse you today.

Back to today’s show.

So, do you like reading books in (inglés) English?

If you don’t like reading too much, you might try Audio books.

Since most of you love listening to podcasts I can only assume that you would enjoy listening to some audio books.

I’m trying to listen to the audio books rather than reading them. So I signed up for Audible.
It’s a platform for audio books where you can search for your favourite books and listen to them in English. This way you can listen to something interesting while learning English at the same time.

No doubt, you’ll pick up a lot of new vocabulary. Let’s not forget your pronunciation. You’ll improve your pronunciation as well.

So the Audible platform is like a library of Audio books. It’s a membership platform, you pay a monthly subscription to access the library. You download an app on your phone so you can listen to the books while you’re out running or hiking or if you’re like me, when you are at home washing dishes.

If you’re listening to this show in July of 2019 then right now, Audible is running a promotion where you can access Audible library free for 3 months. This promotion ends in July. Otherwise, they do offer 1 month Free trial before you commit to the monthly membership.

It’s definitely worth getting it if you’re an avid book reader.

So, my book-taste has evolved over years, but only slightly – I now like to read more serious books about business, mindset, and philosophy, entrepreneurship, investing in real estate and similar.

I’ve got three of my favourite books on Audible. I shared them on that link I gave you earlier, www.englishmadesimple.net/tools. Scroll all the way down to see which ones I like.

The first one is called Sapiens: The Brief History of Human Kind by Yuval Noah Harari.

The book is in the Anthropology niche.

I won’t go into too much detail here, I don’t want to bore you but… the first time I heard about this book was on a podcast. The author Yuval Noah was interviewed by James Altutcher and I just loved that interview, so I had to go and check out his book.

So let me give you a quick snippet of what it is about:

“Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us.
We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us sapiens?
In this bold and provocative audiobook, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here, and where we’re going.
Sapiens is a thrilling account of humankind’s extraordinary history from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age and our journey from insignificant apes to rulers of the world. “

Intriguing.

When you browse through the Audible library you can also listen to the snippets of the audio if you like the narrator’s voice. I think that’s important when selecting an Audiobook. It’s not necessarily the author doing the reading. They hire professional voice over people do the narration.

If you’re interested in exploring more about this book, go to www.englishmadesimple.net/tools and scroll all the way down the page. It’s on there.

Hmm, this episode is getting serious, right?

I don’t read any funny books. I actually can’t remember any books I read in the Comedy genre. I might look for one on Audible.

Now, another thing I’d like to add is Kindle.

Another brand in the Amazon suite of products.

Kindle books are eBooks – electronic books – essentially, but you’ll be surprised some of them have an audio component to it as well.

I’ve bought a few eBooks in my time on Kindle. Sometimes when I’m impatient – which is most of the time – I can’t wait for the book to be delivered at home, so I prefer the Kindle version. I can instantly download it on my tablet and read it.

You can also find the Sapiens book I mentioned earlier on Kindle, too.

Simply go to www.englishmadesimple.net/tools to start browsing for Kindle and Audible books. That’s where I keep all of the resources for you to check out – they are the resources I recommend.

Actually, when I met my husband he was reading the Star War books on Kindle and he was also listening to the audio version on Kindle too. That’s how he improved his English.

Now he speaks like Yoda from the Star Wars. [“Do or do not, there is no try” ~Yoda]

Oki doki amigos y amigas.

I hope I inspired you all to start reading… and listening to some audio books.

Let me finish this episode by asking you…. What’s your favourite book? If you have a favourite book, look for it on Audible. Listen to the English version.

Hope you enjoyed today’s show amigos y amigas!

Amigos, if you’d like to keep track of episodes via email, go to www.englishmadesimple.net and scroll all the way down and enter your name and email and you’ll start receiving emails about recent episodes.

Don’t forget to go to www.englishmadesimple.net/convo to get your Audio Book and get access to the 3-Day Mini Email course. Also, don’t forget to join the challenge! You’ll get invited to join after you complete the mini course.

Again that link was: www.englishmadesimple.net/convo to get my Audio Book about How to Simplify A Conversation.

Thanks for joining me in today’s episode. You’ve been an amazing audience and you’ve been jamming with Milena from English Made Simple. Until next time, hasta la próxima.

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