Depression Is Real Podcast
Listen to this podcast brought to you by depressionsisreal.org. In this podcast you’ll hear mental health professionals and other experts discuss numerous topics related to depression. Topics covered include covering the symptoms of depression, ways to cope with and overcome depression, suicide and depression, and numerous other areas of interest. The interviews are informative and helpful for anyone who has suffered from depression or who knows someone who suffers from depression.
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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 books.
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Children’s audio books on CD were something I’d always regarded with mild suspicion.
After all it’s not really reading or is it? As a mother and English teacher, not to mention an avid reader myself, I was fully aware of the importance of reading and had always tried my best to instil in my children and students a love of reading but, I still wondered if I wasn’t perhaps missing something and decided to investigate the matter further.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the experts agree – audio books in fact help improve a child’s reading!
By listening to audio books children are presented with an opportunity to hear language thereby providing them with models for the correct use of grammar and also giving them the chance to hear the correct pronunciation of new or difficult words.
Another benefit of audio books is that they can play a vital role in bridging the gap in young children whose understanding and comprehension is greater than their reading skill. Often children who cannot yet read or who are just learning to read become frustrated by their lack of reading ability. In allowing them to "read" along with an audio book this frustration can be avoided as the child feels as though they’re actually reading. This is an enormous benefit when encouraging a life-long love of books and reading in the very young.
A more obvious, but no less important benefit of listening to stories is that it improves a child’s listening skills. More than half of our learning or accumulation of knowledge is achieved through just listening. Wow! Up until now I hadn’t really thought about it like that. Through just listening to audio books on CD or cassette children’s concentration is improved and they become better listeners and thereby better learners. Just take a moment and think about it. Not too long ago there were no televisions and radios were the centre of home entertainment. Growing up in South Africa (TV only became available there in the early 70’s) I still remember looking forward to Sunday evenings at home listening to stories on the radio. Listening to stories is still a great way to spend quality time together as a family and it has been shown to improve a child’s conversation skills and to encourage them to express themselves.
The narrators of audio books also often bring the stories to life through different voices, music and sound effects. Children are encouraged to use their imaginations and "paint" their own pictures of characters and places. The overall effect of this is one of entertainment and enjoyment thereby strengthening the link between books and pleasure. This is particularly important for parents struggling with reluctant or problem readers.
According to a Commission on Reading report, "Becoming a Nation of Readers", "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." However, changes in society mean that more and more demands are being made on our time. Finding time to squeeze everything in is often not only a challenge but impossible. Audio books can give often exhausted parents a break from reading to their child. What better way to relax and end the day than to cuddle up together and just listen.
About The Author
Eliza Bush is an English teacher and mother of two. She is the Managing Director for Storytime Africa where you can find funny African animal stories for children on audio book and illustrated picture book. Please visit us at http://storytimeafrica.com and allow your children to benefit too.
eliza@storytimeafrica.com
This article was posted on March 01, 2006
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Listen to Horatio Alger, Jr.’s success classic Ragged Dick. Famous for his rags to riches stories, Horatio Alger wrote over 100 novels in the 19th century. Most of them deal with characters which rose out of poverty to achieve the American dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, and determination.
Ragged Dick remains his most famous novel.
It is read colorfully by Alice at LibriVox and is available on MP3 download. Alice gives a fun reading here. She does a lot of different voices sort of like she’s reading a kids story. The audio quality is good. She may be a little too dramatic for some tastes but she puts a lot of energy into it.
Get it for free at Learn Out Loud
Enjoy the Free Friday!
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For many people in this fast paced world it is becoming harder and harder to find the time to do the things that are enjoyable and relaxing. This includes sitting down and reading a good book. That’s where the beauty of audiobooks comes in to the equation.
With an audio book you are able to basically multi task your daily responsibilities while enjoying the entertainment provided by the author of the book. Take a look at these quick tips and ideas about how you can incorporate audiobooks into your daily life so you can both enjoy your favorite book and get the things done you need to get done.
1.You can load your favorite audio book into your iPod or any other MP3 player and while you’re out jogging or walking you will be able to exercise and listen to your book at the same time.
2.Yard work is a great time to toss your audio book into your MP3 player or cd player.
3.If you work on a computer, having your audio book playing in the background can be a great way to listen and accomplish your work at the same time.
4.Anywhere you normally listen to music is also a great time to have your audio book playing.
5.Use audiobooks to enhance your learning of a subject. If you’re currently trying to learn a second language, for example, listening to audiobooks in that language will help you learn more efficiently.
6.Many people like to read self-improvement books and a wonderful way to help understand the message of the book is to also listen to the audio book version.
7.There are a number of resources on the Internet that offer free audiobooks. You can easily find many of classic works in the audio book format and can enjoy them without having to head off to the bookstore or library.
8.Audiobooks are proven to help children learn to read as they can follow along in the book and learn to recognize words and their sounds.
Do a search on the Internet for your favorite book in audiobook format, or, take a look at what is available for free audiobooks before purchasing to see if it is something that will work well for your lifestyle. Finally, it is very important thing to keep in mind when incorporating audiobooks into your life is to make sure you are not listening to them in a situation where your attention is needed fully on the task at hand.
By: MattR
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
If you’re ready to to give ebooks a shot you should check out these great Audiobook Deals
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Technorati Tags: audio books, Children, ipod, mp3 player, recourses, self-improvement
Audiobooks are becoming more and more popular day by day. After slow growth from the 1950s until late in the 20th century, sales took off and reached $871 million in 2005. Why is that? The many benefits of audiobooks are being "discovered." Consider the following:
1) You save time, because you can listen to an audiobook while doing other things – anywhere and everywhere. While you are working around the house or at the computer, commuting to and from work, walking the dog, cycling, jogging, exercising, and so on, you can listen to your favorite book. There are endless possibilities.
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 books you could enjoy and how much you could learn during this time by simply having your MP3 player with audiobooks at hand.
2) If you love reading but are short on time, audiobooks can give you the opportunity to "read" many more books than you otherwise could. Audiobooks are a great way to fill the "dead" moments we all have in our lives.
3) Audiobooks are good for older, ill or recovering people and can be wonderful gifts for those in a nursing institution. They are gifts they will remember and enjoy time after time.
4) For blind people, disabled people or people with impaired vision, audiobooks are a godsend. All of us should have the chance to experience and enjoy a book. In many cases, this is the only way for these disabled persons to do it.
Spoken books can help these people by improving their education, by helping them to develop new hobbies and habits, and greatly enriching their life, both personally and professionally.
5) Arguably, the most important, rewarding and enjoyable skill a child can ever acquire is the ability to read. It’s easy to stimulate literacy in children with audiobooks. Children can "listen" to books while following the story in the paper book. Their vocabulary will improve and their communication skills improve even if they just listen. If you want to instill in your child the love of reading, audiobooks can be an excellent start.
There are many other benefits of using audiobooks… and even more for downloadable audiobooks found online on many websites. But even the few reasons above should be enough to convince you to enter the exciting world of spoken books. CDs and cassettes are available at physical bookstores and online ones. Downloadable audiobooks are, of course, only available online. Many online book stores offer several free titles.
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Usual Suspects (feat. Nas) – Single Read more…
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All you need to do is visit the kids’ audio/video section of your local CD shop and you will be bombarded with a multitude of educational enhancement products to buy. You may find ‘Baby Einstein’ or ‘Brainy Baby’ and an abundance of similar merchandise to make your child smarter. These types of goods can be a wonderful way to introduce music to your children before the age of three. However, nothing can replace private music lessons for a 3 to 9 year old.
The brain develops at a rapid rate between birth and three and is an essential window for the development of neurons. Therefore, encouraging musical exploration is an easy way to promote intellectual development.
Before the age of three, toy instruments can be an excellent introduction to the real thing and group musical play classes can prepare a child for later study. Singing at any age is highly beneficial and linguistic & musical awareness can begin as early as the fifth month of pregnancy when the fetal brain and ears are wide open to receive stimulus.
From the age of 3 years old, a child’s brain circuits are mature enough to begin instrumental and/or vocal lessons. Voice is probably the most important instrument because singing is a tremendous gateway to confident communication and full self-expression.
The piano is usually the best musical instrument to start with because it does not require any specific fingering to play. However, children should choose instruments to play by the sounds they like. Kids will practice more if they like the sound of an instrument.
If your child chooses the piano, inexpensive electronic keyboards are a good way to begin because they are very affordable and portable. Many brands on the market today will display the notes on a digital screen while music is being played. These types of keyboards can greatly assist a child to begin to read musical notes and symbols. They also often have built in rhythm and song functions that make singing and dancing along with the music easy.
Since Howard Gardner’s ‘Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences’ in 1983 and Gordon Shaw and Francis Rauscher’s ‘Mozart Effect’ in 1993, there has be much debate and research into whether or not music study can be linked to better academic performance.
You will find thousands of books, products, articles and websites discussing the advantages of studying music. For your convenience, the top 20 benefits reported for vocal and instrumental music study are listed below.
1. Music training has been linked to spatial-temporal reasoning skills. (I.e. ability to read a map, put puzzles together, form mental images, transform/visualize things in space that unfold over time, and recognize relationships between objects. These skills are often helpful in science, math, and chess.)
2. Musical symbols, structure, and rhythmic training utilize fractions, ratios, and proportions, which are all important in mathematical study.
3. Increases problem finding/solving, logic and thinking skills like analysis, evaluation and the linkage/organization of ideas
4. Optimizes brain neuron development & circuitry
5. Assists motor development especially coordination of hands, eyes and body
6. Expands multiple intelligences and helps students’ transfer study, cognitive and communication skills from subject to subject in any syllabus
7. Group orchestra or ensemble activities help promote cooperation, social harmony and teach kids discipline while working together toward a common goal.
8. Music augments memory. For example, most people learn their ABC’s by singing them. Repeating a tune in a predictable rhythmic song structure makes memorization easier.
9. Singing is a great way to aid/improve reading ability and instruction. Karaoke is a perfect example. Children may learn a song by ear (auditory) but words on a TV or computer screen provide a simultaneous visual anchor.
10. In vocal music learning rhythm, phrasing, and pitch greatly enhances language, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary skills. This is especially noticeable when using songs in first and second language study.
11. Improves critical reading and writing
12. Raises test scores, decreases performance anxiety, and teaches kids how to handle/manage stress during standardized exams
13. Helps children channel unexpressed and/or negative emotions in a positive way
14. Boosts creative thinking
15. Reading music and performing memorized pieces help children to think ahead
16. Improvisation helps people to ‘think on their feet’
17. Solo performance is connected to self-esteem & self-efficacy. (concept of self capacity) Children learn to reach for their very best.
18. When kids prepare and consistently practice for recital or performance, they work to sing/play without errors. They generally apply similar determination and perseverance to many future endeavors academic or otherwise.
19. Improves understanding of homework and enables a higher levels of concentration
20. Children who study music usually have a better attitude, are more motivated and are less intimidated by learning new things
Strong music reading, writing notation, sight singing (solfege), music theory, literacy, and moving the body to music are solid, transferable skills. Learning is a two-way street. For example, one can assume that mathematics can also develop music. Academic achievement links positively with musical achievement and vice versa.
As early as the 19th century, the visionary Dr. Maria Montessori included music and arts into her worldwide school curriculums to greatly enhance and accelerate learning.
‘Lorna Heyge, Ph.D., says: "While educational leaders turn to early childhood music because it promotes brain development, they will stay with music because of the joy and stimulation experienced in actual music making. Music learning requires total involvement-that is why it appeals so much to young children"
Copyright 2006 Deborah Torres Patel
Deborah Torres Patel helps ordinary people become extraordinary communicators. She began her formal musical training at 5 years old and is a passionate advocate of arts education for children. Her work with adults has clearly shown that a foundation of music at an early age contributes significantly to one’s overall confidence and full-self expression later in life. For free voice, presentation, powerful public speaking and video training tips subscribe to her popular newsletter at: http://expressingyou.com.
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Joining writing and math, reading is one of the most significant skills a child will encounter in school. Unfortunately, it is also one of the leading subjects most often dreaded and difficult to get youngsters to show an interest in. However, an increasing amount of parents and teachers are now discovering the ease and convenience of using audio books as a powerful learning tool.
Audio books present reading in a whole new light, as authors, professional actors, sound effects, and entertaining music bring to life the words that decorate the pages of books. Some of the most involved audio books for children assemble an entire cast of character voices to enhance the overall experience of reading along with audio.
Creating a Relationship with Words
As a child hears a book read on tape, they enter a journey where words seem friendlier and more approachable. The possibilities of reading become clearer, as an audio book is great at illustrating where learning the skill can really take you. A young reader is also more apt to establish a pattern of concentrating on the sounds of words without the interruption of personal reading obstacles. An audio also helps create the building blocks necessary for fluent reading.
Improved Listening Skills
Since audio books are read aloud, a significant understanding and exposure to the art of listening is cultivated. The skill of listening plays an important role in learning how to read better and is an ability that goes hand and hand when training to tackle a wide range of reading materials. As a result, a child’s level of comprehension also becomes nurtured.
Create a Growing Interest
Today, a great deal of students shows little to no interest in reading because they’ve received minimal exposure to the positive and fun aspects of books. Audio books for children most often highlight interesting sound effects, catchy tunes, and changes in voices that are appealing and motivating for young readers. The combination of different voices, silly dialogue, and a playful presentation provides children of varying ages encouragement for a growing interest in what they can accomplish when learning how to read.
Audio books also allow narrators to enhance the storytelling aspect of a tale to present reading as a source of enjoyment rather than a forced skill taught in school. It is through this entertaining journey that children become excited and enthusiastic about the reading process, as they learn a deeper understanding of language, pronunciation, and the meaning of words.
Building a Vocabulary
A child is most likely to learn new vocabulary words by listening to their favorite stories on an audio book. Young readers additionally begin to develop a familiarity with common words and phrases that ultimately make learning how to read a much easier process to navigate.
Fun with Family and Friends
When friends gather together to listen to an audio book, the possibilities of a blossoming imagination are truly never ending. Just as Barbie dolls and action figures allow kids to explore their creativity through playful dialogue and actions, an audio book can accomplish the same thing. This learning tool also makes a great activity that can involve the entire family. A great example is seen when traveling down the open road, as audio books can help keep the peace amongst passengers on long trips to Grandma’s house or family vacations.
By: suegold
About the Author: Steve Childens is owner of Audio Books Galore, an Audio Books Download Store online. At Chris’s audio-book store, you can get quality Discount Audio Books at special prices.
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Move Under Ground is a horror novel which combines the Beat style of Jack Kerouac with the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.
Recorded with the permission of Nick Mamatas and under rights granted by a Creative Commons license. Full book text available at www.moveundergr Read more…
