Did you know that audio books are becoming more and more popular by each day? For example, in 2004, over $124 million worth of audio books were sold in the UK and $120 million in Germany during 2005. Experts say that this year the market is expected to rise by 20% in Europe, and audio books seem to be even more popular in the USA.
But why are audio versions a convenient way to "read" a book?
1) You save time, because you can listen to an audio book anywhere and everywhere, and you can even do other things at the same time. You can listen when driving to and from work, when walking the dog, cycling, working around the house or at the computer, exercising, and so on. The possibilities are endless.
According to a recent survey, in the USA a person is driving an average of 1 hour and 13 minutes daily, which means over 440 hours a year for each driver, or 11 full-time work weeks. This is huge! Imagine how many things you could learn during this time by simply having your MP3 player with audio books at hand.
2) If you love reading but don't have a enough time, audio books can give you the opportunity to read many more books that you would otherwise have time for. Audio books are a great way to fill the "dead" moments we all have in our lives.
3) Audio books are good for older, ill or recovering people and can be a wonderful gift for someone in a nursing institution. This is a gift they can remember and enjoy time after time.
4) Audio books can be a blessing for blind people, disabled people or people with impaired vision. Everyone should have the chance to experience and enjoy a book and in many cases, this is the only way for such persons to do it.
Spoken books can help these people improving their education, help them developing new hobbies and habits and greatly enriching their life, both personally and professionally.
5) The most important skill a child can ever acquire is probably the ability to read, and audio books can be easily used to stimulate literacy in children. Books can be listened to by children while following the story in the paper book. Or they could listen just to gain and improve vocabulary and communication skills. If you want to instill in your child the love of reading, audio books can be a excellent start.
There are many more benefits of using audio books, but even these few reasons should be enough to convince you to enter the exciting world of the spoken word.
6 great places to enjoy an audio book
We have a lot to be grateful for when talking about technology.
Who would have ever believed that not only would we cut down on the way we use up our vegetation for making hardcover and paperback books, we would also be able to "listen" to our books instead of "reading" them.
Ironic? Not with the introduction of audio books.
With audio books, we now have the unique advantage of doing other things that take up our hands, but not our minds. We can now do other things like household chores, exercise, etc while still having the book read to us.
More people are embracing the wonders of audio books and are buying their favorite books in audio book version.
If you are considering buying an audio book, below are 6 of the great places you can enjoy an audio book:
1--In bed - There are certain days when we just don't want to do anything but lie down in bed thinking of certain issues. Or we could just want to lie down in the dark until we fall asleep.
This is a great time to listen to an audio book. You wouldn't have to bother with putting on the lights, holding the book, flipping through the pages or the stress of reading the book itself.
With an audio book, the entire book will be read to you while you stay comfortable in bed - without flipping any pages, holding the book or putting on the lights.
2--In the kitchen while doing household chores such as washing the dishes or cooking. For some people it can be very boring being in the kitchen, especially washing the dishes or other such chores.
This is a great time to enjoy an audio book because your hands are busy but your mind is free.
Instead of feeding your mind with negative thoughts during this time, an audio book would be a wonderful alternative.
3--In the garden while gardening - You can also listen to audio books while gardening. The audio book can make the gardening fun because you would be concentrating on the beauty of the audio book and not on the difficulty of gardening.
4--While exercising such as jogging - Exercising such as jogging leaves your mind open but your hands, legs and even your entire body busy. This is a great time to enjoy an audio book.
Most people perform exercises for many minutes or even hours while their minds do nothing. But listening to an audio book during this time ensures you don't waste those times that you exercise.
Talk about killing 2 birds with one stone - exercising your body and mind at the same time!
5--On the road commuting - This could either be in your personal car or a commercial bus or train ride to work. You see, many people lose a great deal of time doing nothing while commuting to and from their jobs.
Why not use that time to listen to an audio book, especially one that develops your mind and/or improves your professional and business skills?
For example, listening to an audio book that improves your skills daily can do a lot of good to your career, instead of listening to a musical song which wouldn't help you much in the area of skill acquisition.
6--In the air while traveling - You wouldn't believe it, but there are many people who spend more time in the air than on road. There are professional assignments that involve traveling from one state to the other, or even from one country to the other.
If you are in such a situation, consider the enormous benefits you would get listening to audio books, especially those that can improve your professional skills.
Yes, there are many audio book courses made specifically for professionals to improve their skills in many areas of their professions.
