Can You Learn a Language by Listening to Audiobooks?

Audiobooks are a fantastic form of entertainment for when you just want to relax and listen to something, or perhaps when you are driving a vehicle and really do not feel like listening to music. As a result, a lot of people will use audiobooks to learn a language. So, does this really work? Let's take a look!

Can you learn a language by listening to audiobooks?

Absolutely!

In fact, it is a great way to build up your listening skills.

One of the major benefits of audiobooks is that they are often spoken in an incredibly clear manner. This is a sharp contrast to podcasts which tend to be a bit more energetic. Audiobooks will make every single word clear, and they will often have words pronounced in such a way that will draw you into the action and make you 'feel' something.

Of course, in order to benefit from language learning via audiobooks, you will have to put a bit of effort into ensuring that you choose the right audiobooks to listen to. This means choosing something that is about your skill level.

Our tutors find that there are two ways that you can benefit from learning a language with audiobooks.

Active learning

This is where you actually take the time to listen to the audiobook. You will often be sitting there, notebook in hand, writing down notes about what you hear coming from the audiobook. you will specifically be writing notes on words or phrases that you do not understand.

Active learning is what you should be doing the majority of the time. This is how you pick up new vocabulary and learn new grammatical concepts.

In some cases, you may even want to have a physical copy of the book being read alongside the audiobook. Most people find that it is great to really get a feel for the words that are being spoken. It also means that you can improve your reading skills at the same time. If you want to go down this route, though, then you will need to make sure that you have the unabridged version of the audiobook.

Passive learning

This is where you just have the audiobook playing in the background while you are doing something else e.g. it is going to work best for those that are driving.

Passive learning works best when you are already going to understand most of the words in the audiobook. This means that you really do not have to think too hard about what is being said.

The reason why it is important to engage in passive learning is that it helps with language immersion. As you may well know, one of the secrets to learning a language is to completely surround yourself with that language. It allows you to get a feel for the sounds of the language, and even the most popular words being used.

Remember, as brilliant as audiobooks are for learning a language, they will only be a fraction of your language learning. You will still need to work on your reading, speaking, and writing skills.