Chime School

Posts Tagged ‘audio books’

Both the ipod of Apple Computers and the ubiquitous MP3 player has made the MP3 audio book so popular. Do these thoughts really help you understand why these particular kinds of audio books have become such a rage and are it really any better than the CD versions of the audio book.

MP3 Audio Books Are Very Portable

Well, MP3 audio books are very portable and so offer you a better chance to listen to your favorite author at any time and at any place that you choose and it certainly is a marked improvement over the hardbound printed books.

The MP3 audio book provides more usability than any other form of audio book and so you can make good use of them without even owning an MP3 player because your home computer can be used to enjoy these books.

The MP3 audio book is available at more reasonable costs and so instead of paying a lot of money for the CD audio book you can take advantage of the digital format that means no overheads for the publisher who will then be willing to sell you the MP3 audio book for a lower cost.

The MP3 audio bookis also very convenient and certainly more than any other audio book format and you can browse different MP3 audio books online and then download whichever one takes your fancy. No more is it necessary to go to a neighborhood book store to look for your audio books.

Best of all the selections that are available as MP3 audio books are far greater than for any other kind of audio book format and this means that you can be the first to get the latest book and the hottest selling bestseller. In fact, even if you are looking for some very obscure titles you stand a better chance of finding what you want if you check out the MP3 audio book titles as compared to the CD versions.

These reasons have made MP3 audio books demanding and other audio formats out of market. MP3 audio book downloads are fast and convenient and easy to do. You can be sure that every book that has ever been written will have been converted to MP3 format which is why it pays to download the MP3 version. The quality of sound of an MP3 audio book is superior than any other audio book format so it is given priority to others.

Although the popularity of audio books is quickly catching on around the world, there is still such a huge majority of people who have never tried reading this way. Getting a Harry Potter audio book CD so that you can read a book without actually having to read it yourself is really a great idea, because then you can do other things, while you are listening to the book.

Many people find this useful because they can listen to the Harry Potter audio book or other of their choice, while they are doing the dishes or running other errands around the house, and even out if they are wearing headphones and listening to it. Maybe you just want to listen to a Harry Potter audio book for pleasure, or you have to read a Harry Potter audio book for educational or even career purpose, and either way, you are going to find it easier than ever when you have it in audio form.

Trying a Harry Potter audio book is also full of enjoyment. This is something new that people will really enjoy. There are audio books for pretty much every text book out there today, but it can often take some time to browse around at different audio book stores to find the downloads or CDs that you want.

Where to Shop For Harry Potter Audio Book

If you want to find a Harry Potter audio book, Random House is a great place to head to if you wanted to find the books either in text or audio form. A person can be the first to read the new Harry Potter books as these stores always have the latest releases available.

There is also the Simply Audiobooks store, where you can even get downloads for free. They offer the entire Harry Potter audio book set for free, and they will be releasing the next books as they become available.

There are lots of other great places that you could head to as well if you wanted to find the Harry Potter audio book set, and this means that you can start listening to the books right away. Everyone who tries the audio books really enjoys them and it really just gives you more opportunity to start reading all your favorite books again.

There's no denying the fact that most people hated reading as kids, only a few kids enjoy reading, especially if there is an alternative.

Audio books have now made it possible for children to get better access to materials that they don't like reading.

Obviously, children still need to read, this is very important but reading along side audiobooks make is so much more exciting.

Many schools have now taken audio books not just to the homes of their students but also in the classrooms.

Experts in the educational sector have agreed that audio books in the classrooms go a long way to help students more than normal books, especially those students who are just beginning to read or those who have difficulty in reading.

Below are 8 specific benefits of using audio books for students:

1. Using audio books to teach children in school gives them "variety", instead of just listening to their teacher, they benefit from the change that comes with "another" teacher.

2. You can find audio books that are specifically made to make learning entertaining, it's a much more fun way of teching.

3. Using audio books to teach kids in school will give the teachers more time to prepare for the next lesson, the teachers can play the audio book for the children while doing something else.

4. For children with reading difficulties, they can slowly follow the readings from audio books until it feels comfortable to read.

Simply following an audio book to read along while looking at the printed material in front of them can increase their learning skills by a very high percentage.

5. Audio books save money. Instead of buying dozens of books for a classroom, just one audio book can be played for all the students in the classroom.

6. Audio books that tell interesting stories are very helpful in times when the children would have become too tired to read and study.

Stories that children are very fond of will become so much more interesting.

7. Children don't particularly like printed books as they do audio books. A child can feel more 'at home' when they are 'told a story' rather than reading a book.

8. Audio books also have children deal with the pronunciation of certain words that they would have difficulty with merely reading them. It's a really good way of learning pronunciation, hearing the actual word spoken at the same time as seeing how it is spelt.

All in all, most children find it a great deal of fun listening to a lesson on audio, rather than having to read it. This is for the same reason that kids love movies and TV, as it much more fun than reading a book.

No wonder more schools are embracing the technology of audio books for teaching their children.

An excellent source that I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network. You can find them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0023

For most of us who are business people, we love to improve our business acumen via reading and taking courses, but we lack the time to do so.

This is where audio books have come to play a very important role in our lives.

As a business person, you can now use the amazing value inherent in listening to audio books. You won't have to worry about not having the time or will to flip through the pages of a book.

With an audio book you can enjoy the same value of any business book when preparing to go to work in the morning, when commuting to and fro work, etc.

If you are at loose for the specific business audio books to go for, below are 5 of some of the best that any business person shouldn’t do without listening to:

1. How to win friends and influence people – by Dale Carnegie

I don't know about you, but the most important aspect of my business is PEOPLE. For almost every endeavor of life, especially business, we need people to keep the business going.

There aren't just the people that bring in the sales, these people are also the ones that make the sales a possibility in the first place. To ensure that we all succeed at this, we need to know "how to win friends and influence people".

This book has worldwide acclaim and has received many, many accolades. It really is the "must have" book for anyone who has a business, or is interested in improving themselves in their business.

This audio book contains such an enormous wealth of information that you will not only learn how to influence people in your workplace, in effect turning around more sales, you will also learn how to win over your friends and staff.

With audiobooks, you can kill two birds with 1 stone - listen to and audio book both enjoying and learning at the same time - whilst you are travelling from home to the office and back.

2. It’s not the big that eat the small… it’s the fast that eat the slow – by Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton

In today's business, one of the single most common words that we need to embrace is "CHANGE". In a constantly "updated" world, we need to be ready to embrace and implement changes to our businesses.

This audio book is a fabulous resource for dealing with many day-to-day challenges in keeping your business afloat.

The fastest organizations on the planet today are the ones that will thrive. In this audiobook you will learn how to make sure your company is right up there with the fastest. You will be given examples of how to make these improvements, using numerous tried and tested methods, including the power of commerce, deployment of resources, and excellent people management.

3. Management Challenges for the 21st Century – by Peter F. Drucker

When it comes to business management and leadership, one name stands tall in any gathering of experts. That name is Peter F. Drucker.

Being an expert of the industry and writing about it for a staggering 80 years, Drucker is not just talking from theory. I don't think anyone could possibly have more experience in the field of business and management.

This audiobook title explores in depth how 21st century management challenges can be handled by business professionals.

4. Jack: Straight from the Gut – by Jack Welch

There's no denying the fact that Jack Welch is one of the world's most successful CEOs ever.

In this powerful thought-provoking audio book, he tells his story detailing how you can follow his steps to become one of the most successful persons in your career today.

5. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap – by Jim Collins

You can't argue with the fact that "without the techniques and strategies, no company or business can excel beyond a few days, weeks or even months".

Businesses and companies that have stood the test of time for many years know what to do and have done them right.

The author has taken quite some time to collate the results from his extensive studies of companies who have had business success for many, many years - looking into what they are doing so right, that their counterparts are not.

The power of the information contained within this business audio book can help any business person to succeed.

These 5 audio books can do a lot for your business and career if you take the time to listen to them and apply what you will learn therein to your business and career.

A great source I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network. You can find them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0027

Like everyone, French lessons were compulsory during my school days, but I never really took them seriously. In my honest opinion, something like that just wasn't of any importance to me, and probably never would be.

Like everyone I know, you just figure that English is more popular and that you can get along anywhere with your own knowledge of the English language, right?

Oh my, how wrong could I have been.

I realized my mistake when I was sent to France for an assignment. Talk about a fish out of water! I was completely out of my comfort zone.

Literally everywhere I went, restaurants, bars, shops, galleries, offices, transport - everyone was speaking French. Finding somebody who could speak my native tongue was like trying to find someone in England who could speak Swahili.

Whew, I really felt lost.

That experience nonetheless, I still made a silent resolve not to learn the language, since I wasn't going to be coming back to France.

My boss told me when I got back that I'd be returning to France in 3 months. Not only that, but this time I would be staying for much longer than the last time.

I protested, but she didn't bulge.

Right that second I made the decision to make sure I had learned French before those three short months were over.

Being a lover of audio books, I went right ahead and bought some “Teach yourself French” foreign language audio books which I played while preparing for work in the morning, while exercising, during my commute to and from work and any other time when my hands were busy but my mind was free.

At first I didn't pay too much attention to what was being said in the "Teach yourself French" audio books because it was a strange language.

But as time went on, it all started to make sense. What was really beneficial, and what really helped me to grasp the language in the end, was the translations to English for any of the words spoken in French.

It definitely confirmed the theory I had read some time ago about how powerful listening can really be. It is no wonder that the good lord gave us two ears and one mouth. This means just listening is powerful enough to learn virtually any language.

You wouldn't believe it but gradually I picked up and was able to speak some amount of French just 6 weeks after.

You can imagine the surprise on the face of my boss when, 10 weeks later, I spoke French to her without mixing it with a single word in English!

She was amazed by my achievement and wanted to know exactly how I'd done it. So I told her my secret - it was audio books!

Not only was she very impressed, she made me the head of the delegation she was sending to represent our company in France.

She made sure every other member of my team got their foreign language audio books and did exactly what I had done.

Three months later, on my return to France, nobody would mistake me for the "a fish out of water" I had been on my initial visit.

It was incredible, but I was able to achieve this without taking any classes, without hiring any private French tutor, without reading any "French tutorial" books.

All of this was possible within 3 months just listening to French audio book lessons.

And do you know what was the most intriguing thing about all of this? All of this I did in my "free" time. There were no extra committments of time needed from me, I just used the same time that I had wasted in the past.

Now, if I could do this within just three months, I am absolutely certain that anyone else can do it too.

If there is any language you would love to learn, follow my footsteps and you will be pleasantly surprised what can happen in just 3 months, with the power of audio books.

There are several audio book versions of many books on learning foreign languages that you can get on the Internet.

You can begin searching from SpokenNetwork.com direct, or through the many search engines. You just need to type in the phrase or title of the book that you are interested in, and you'll be given a whole host of results… within seconds.

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0026

Technology really has given us a lot to be thankful for.

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? No, not now we have the wonderful creation on 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 go other things like household chores, exercise, etc while still having the book read to us.

Audio book sales are increasing as more and more people are taking advantage of how wonderful they are to listen to.

If you are considering buying an audio book, below are 6 of the great places you can enjoy an audio book

1. In the comfort of your own bed. You know the days, when you really can't face the world, you just want to relax. We could even just lay there in the darkness while we fall asleep.

What 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 you need to be using your hands whereas your mind is completely free.

Another, much better thing would be to listen to an audio book, this would crush all the negative thoughts.

3. While gardening, Of course, you can listen to an audiobook while gardening. If you find gardening a real chore, an audio book would take your mind of it and make you feel more at ease.

4. When you are exercising. When you are busy exercising, your whole body is busy, you wouldn't be able to read a book but wouldn't it be great, as your mind is free. This is a brilliant time to listen to and love an audio book.

Most people perform exercises for many minutes or even hours while their minds do nothing. This time is not wasted when you listen to your favorite audio book.

This couldn't be a better example of killing 2 birds with one stone, a workout for your mind and body!

5. While travelling. Imagine how much time is spent sitting in a car, train, bus or especially on a plane. You see, many people loose a great deal of time doing nothing while commuting to and fro their jobs.

This time could be better spent listening to an audio book that improves your mind, one that could improve your professional skills?

As an example, while listening to your favorite music is a lot of fun, just imagine how great it would be to be able to listen to an audio book that will actually improve your skills, this could be a benifit for your career.

6. While travelling in the air, There are a lot of people who actually spend much more time in the air than in a car. 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 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.

An excellent source that I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network. You can find them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0024

It's indeed incredible that not many people pay a great deal of attention to what gets into their minds.

You see, the mind is the single most important factor in determining who you are and what you do as an individual.

All of your dreams can come true if you keep a possitive and creative mind.

Most of the highly successful people you see in the news today took a great deal of time to work on improving their minds.

You'll find that the most notorious people on the planet would fill their minds with a constant stream on negative thoughts. It's this kind of attitude that will lead to a person thinking that they do not want to achieve anything in life.

The question that obviously comes to play here is, are we born with positive or negative minds?

Of course, this is incorrect!

We develop our minds by what we put into it. If we are constantly filling our minds with a flow of negative input there's no doubt that we will have our own negative thoughts and even actions.

So, if you want the opposite and creative thoughts, it is pertinent to always get the right kind of information into your mind.

The most practical way of achieving this would be reading the right kind of book.

Of course, as life has changed so much, hardly anyone has any time anymore, only a few people will still read books.

We mostly only have time to read the newspapers and magazines, and guess what? Most newspapers only end up giving us bad news that further increase our negative state of mind.

If you want to really get positive and helpful information, you need to read books that contain such information.

Thankfully with the advent and popularity of audio books, anyone can get the right information into his or her mind without having to “read”.

You can enjoy the benefits of audio books while exercising, commuting to and fro your work, etc.

If you are reading this and have no idea what books to look for, I have compiled a a list of what I think is the top ten best audio books to improve your mind.

1. Build Your Self Esteem Author: Glenn Harrold Publisher: Diviniti Publishing

2. Awaken the Giant Within Author: Anthony Robbins Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

3. Develop a Powerful Memory Author: Glenn Harrold Publisher: Diviniti Publishing

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Author: Stephen R. Covey Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

5. How to Win Friends & Influence People Author: Dale Carnegie Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

6. Awaken the Giant Within Author: Anthony Robbins Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

7. Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway Author: Susan Jeffers Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

8. The Power is within You Author: Louise L. Hay Publisher: Hodder Headline Audio books

9. Creating Inner Peace and Calm Author: Glenn Harrold Publisher: Diviniti Publishing

10. Get Up and Do It! Publisher: BBC Books

Any or all of these audio books can be bought from some of the leading audio book stores on the Internet.

An excellent source that I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network. You can find them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0022

When it comes to burning (or copying/writing) a downloadable audio book into CD, you must be sure that it isn’t for commercial purpose, but strictly for personal use. This is very serious, breaking this law can get you into a whole load of trouble as you would be performing copyright infringement.

Yes, the downloadable audio books are still under copyright, even after paying to download them.

The only example of audio books that are not under copyright anymore is when the author or translator dies over seventy years ago. There are certain publications by government that is not under copyright.

But the rule of "only for personal use" is still ultimate when it comes to burning any downloadable audio book into CD or any such formats.

Even though it is for you own use, there are some publishers that will not allow you to burn your audio book to CD. Such audio book publishers then go ahead to disable the ability to burn into CD.

To be sure if your audio book publishers allow this, check it out before going ahead to buy it.

It will not be beneficial for you to buy it with the primary purpose of burning it to CD to listen with your CD player, only to find that you can't burn it to CD.

Also, when it comes to burning audio books into CD, you might certainly need more than one CD for an audio book. For example, an audio book of about 10 hours can take you as many as 7 CDs to copy into, especially if you want to playback the CD with an MP3 player.

That being said, below are the steps to take to burn (or copy) any downloadable audio book into CD:

NOTE that the below instructions are based on Windows Media Player Version 10. If you have a previous version installed you can install the most up to date version from Microsoft's website. Here's the exact link - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download

First, the computer you want to use to burn the audio book into CD must be equipped with a recordable CD drive and CD-burning software.

In other words, it is this CD-burning software that can burn the audio book into the CD. And it is the recordable CD drive that can be used for this purpose.

2nd, open up the audio book and play in in Windows Media Player. You will need to make sure that you select 'Full Mode' when you are doing this, do not choose "Skin Mode".

Third, you will notice the "now playing" information displayed on the right-had side of your Windows Media Player. If this does not show up you can press "Restore the Video and Visualization Pane" button to display it.

4th. Now slect the 'Library' tab. You will notice the “Start Burn” button displayed.

Fifth, at this point, insert the blank CD into the recordable CD drive.

6th. Press on the 'Start Burn' button. Now the CD you had just inserted will begin the 'Burning' procedure.

Lastly, if the audio book is larger than the CD (most always are), Windows Media Player will prompt you that it requires a new CD. You can remove the one inside and insert another blank CD.

Once the full 'burn' procedure is completed you will see the message "Complete".

An excellent source that I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network.

This is where you can get them:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0018

There’s no denying what a perfect combination audio book technology and the introduction of MP3 portable players have become.

You now have options of listening to your audio book, not just on cassette tape players, CD players, and your computer, but also on your MP3 player.

So, if you are one that would rather listen to your audio book on MP3 player, rather than your PC, you can.

Below are the exact steps you need to take to make this possible.

NOTE that the below instructions are based on Windows Media Player Version 10. If you are using an older version, you can download the latest version from Microsoft's website.

Here is the actual link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download

First, you need to put the audio book into the computer from where you want to copy it to your MP3 player. If you have the audio book on a Compact Disk you will first need to 'rip' the audio book to your PC.

Second, you need to find the USB cable that came with the MP3 player as all MP3 players use different cables. Once you have this cable you need to connect the MP3 player to your PC.

When you connect your MP3 player to your PC, your PC will show a message to say that it has found new hardware. If it doesn't indicate this, then something is wrong. Just disconnect the cable and then reconnect.

Third, open your Windows Media Player and open the audio book you want to copy. This will open the audio book in the main display area of Windows Media Player.

Fourth, add the audio book to the Sync List of your Windows Media Player.

Fifth, now you should click on the Sync tab on the Windows Media Player. You will now see a pull-down arrow on the box to the left hand side of the Sync tab. You need to make sure you choose the named "Removable Disk (E)" when you are choosing the location where your audio book is transferred to.

Sixth, a display with an option will appear, "start sync". Go ahead and click on this option. When you have done this, the Windows Media Player will indicate to you that it's sending the audio book into your MP3 player as "Removable Disk (E)".

Seventh, as soon as the sync (or copying) is complete, you can verify if it is in your MP3 player.

One last note, make sure you select the hardware icon (found in the system tray - near the clock) to ""safely remove hardware"". Be sure that you do not disconnect before you get the "it is now safe to remove the hardware" message. NOTE if you do not do this before you disconnect can cause errors on both your PC and MP3 player.

When all of this is done, you can then try to playback the audio book from your MP3 player. If you followed all the above steps you should find the audio book playing on your MP3 player.

If however you find you have a previous version of Windows Media Player, you can still apply the exact steps above. The only major difference is that instead of having "sync", you will have "copy". You can select this and go through the same steps as above transfer your audio book onto your MP3 player.

A really good place that I came across to get all your favorite audiobooks is

Spoken Network. You can locate them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0017

It’s really amazing that you can get the exact value listening to an audio book while doing your normal chores as you would reading it.

Certain experts even say information sinks in more when we are not paying direct attention to them.

But when did this audio book phenomenon really start? In other words, what is the past of audio books?

Audio books seem to be a brand new invention, right?

WRONG!

As audio books have been linked with MP3s, PDA and CDs (for eample) it seems that many people think that they are a new invention. But audio books started far before now.

In order for us to know just how long audio books have existed, we first need to know what audio books actually are.

Forget about any other jargon you have heard, audio books are simply books that are recorded to be heard, instead of read.

Even so, recorded versions of books have existed for a very long time, far before now. If you want to be specific, it is safe to say they have existed for at least half century ago.

It could even be much longer, if you take into account the Library of Congress recordings especially made for the American Foundation for the Blind and distributed free throughout the U.S.

However, according to Robin Whitten, the editor and founder of the only magazine which is dedicated solely to the audio book industry – Audiofile–http://www.AudioFileMagazine.com, Caedmon (now a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers) can be credited to have started the recordings of literature as far as 50 years ago.

Also, he said that Caedmon was only a small company way back then in New York, which began the process of recording the great authors and poets of the 1950s to audio. Specifically, he said one of the earliest recordings were by greats such as Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, Fitzgerald and Robert Frost.

What happened then was that they were simply recorded while doing their own works and made as vinyl records.

But these early recordings can arguably pass off for the first collection of audio books ever.

However, audio books did not transition to the format of cassette tapes until the late 70s – 80s. From thence, it blossomed until audio books in audiocassette tapes came to be accepted by all and sundry.

For whatever reason however, the audio book phenomenon didn’t really kick off until the 1990s.

And now that we have changed from cassette tapes to compact disks even more people have an interest in audio books.

With the explosion of the world wide web and everything that comes with it, audio books have now gone from vinyl records, tapes and CDs into downloadable digital formats. These can be listened to in many different ways, on a desktop PC, laptop, MP3 player etc.

If you are still interested in “going back in time” you can get the original book recordings that started this audio book industry.

Impossible?

Not really.

You can still buy some of the early fifties analog recording made by Caedmon on the world wide web.

For instance, I searched on the world wide web and came across the actual recording of “The Lord of the Rings” as read by J.R.R. Tolken.

You can find that classic you have always dreamt of in audio book format if you search hard enough on the Internet.

An excellent source that I have found for audio book downloads is Spoken Network. You can find them at:

www.spokennetwork.com?cam=ama0016