Adapted audiobooks in English with translation. Read and Listen in English (10 Simple Texts)

“Unread books know how to take revenge,” wrote Ray Bradbury. But how modern man with a frantic pace of life, do not make yourself "avengers"? There is a way out - listen to audiobooks, and if you do it in English as well, you will get a double benefit. We will tell you how to learn English from audiobooks, why you need to listen to them and how to work with them. And at the end of the article you will find links to 7 great sites with audio books in English for children and adults.

Which audiobook to listen to in English

If you do not know English at a high level, then not all books will be equally useful. Let's see what materials can be found on the Internet and what audiobook to listen to in English. Types of audiobooks:

1. By type of recitation

• Books dubbed by a professional speaker (native speaker) in English), are ideal for those who want to listen to competent English speech and learn to speak like a native speaker. If you are going to repeat the words after the announcer, learn the correct intonation and correct pronunciation, then this type is “shown” to you. Books read by a professional announcer are versatile material that is suitable for any listening purpose. They have only one drawback - they are not easy to find in the public domain.
• Books voiced by ordinary people (native English speakers) - such books are well suited for people with a level of knowledge and above. If you want to get used to the different accents in English and want to improve your listening comprehension, these are the books to choose from. The most important advantage of this type of audiobooks in English is that they are easy to find in the public domain. However, if your level of knowledge is below average, then it will be difficult to perceive the speech of native speakers. In addition, the audio track is most often recorded in a normal home environment, so the sound quality leaves much to be desired.
• Books voiced by Russian-speaking teachers or linguists are another good option for people with a low level of knowledge. Audio is usually recorded in professional studios, all words are pronounced clearly, you will easily understand them. On the other hand, the intonation and pronunciation of a Russian-speaking speaker is still slightly different from the intonation and pronunciation of a native speaker.
• Books created using special computer programs (Text-To-Speech) are not the best way for learning English from audiobooks. The program is not able to voice the text in such a way that a natural coherent speech with intonation characteristic of native speakers is obtained.

2. By complexity

• Children's fairy tales and stories are the simplest material that adults should not neglect. Children's books, as a rule, are read by professional announcers at a measured pace. At the same time, the texts are easy to understand also due to the vocabulary: children's books use a limited set of the most frequently used words.
• Audiobooks with supporting text - good material for those who find it difficult to understand foreign speech by ear: you can listen to a book and follow the text with your eyes. In addition, such materials are convenient to use if you are going to learn new words: you can see their spelling in the text.
• Standard audiobooks - materials for people with Intermediate level and higher. These are common entries for native speakers, so they are not always easy to understand. On the other hand, you can easily find lyrics for almost any audio on the Internet, and this will help you understand the book.

In addition, we advise you to try listening to an audiobook, the text of which you have read in Russian more than once. Surely every person has a favorite work of an English-speaking author. If you remember it very well in Russian, then it will be easier for you to understand the audio recording in English.

Benefits of audiobooks in English

One of the most difficult skills in learning English is listening comprehension. To learn to understand foreigners, you need to listen to them often. Therefore, if you do not live abroad and do not communicate daily with native speakers, you need to look for affordable ways to practice listening. The best assistants in this matter are podcasts and audiobooks. Read about. And now let's find out how useful it is to learn English from audiobooks:

1. You improve your English listening comprehension

This is main reason, according to which audiobooks in English are very popular among students. The more we listen, the faster we get used to foreign speech and begin to understand it. And if you consider the fact that most free audiobooks are voiced by native speakers who are not professional voiceovers, then you can also listen to people with different pronunciations. Some will lisp, some will lisp, some will speak too fast - this is a great workout for your listening skill.

2. You get used to the sound of coherent speech

The announcers do not pause between words and pronounce each phrase with natural intonation. You will gradually get used to live speech, and subsequently it will be easy for you to understand what a foreign interlocutor is saying.

3. You learn new words and phrases in context

If we are sometimes too lazy to find and learn words from podcasts or educational texts, then an unfamiliar word that plays an important role will certainly cause a desire to find out what it is about. Words that are important for understanding the meaning will be easy to remember, because you learn them in context and understand how they are used.

4. You listen and remember how grammar is used in live speech

In theory, you understand perfectly when to use the Present Perfect, but when it comes to using this tense in speech, do you get confused and do not know if it would be appropriate to use it? Listening to audiobooks in English will help you understand how any grammatical construction "works" in practice. If you not only passively listen to the recording, but also think about how this or that tense is used, you will understand the principle of English grammar not in theory, but in practice.

5. You study English where it suits you

Audiobooks in English are portable educational materials. You can take them with you wherever you go by downloading them to your smartphone or tablet. So if on the way to work you are not interested in listening to others, listen to an audiobook. Find out how else you can use your gadget for learning from the article "".

6. You develop

The very unread books that could take revenge on you now pose no danger, because you will listen to them. If it is not always possible to devote time to reading, then even the busiest person can afford to listen to an audiobook. Moreover, you can read not only fiction, but also professional or self-development books, then you will also engage in self-education without wasting a minute of your free time on it.

7. You enjoy exercising

We all understand that we need to "accustom" ourselves to the sound of foreign speech, but not everyone likes podcasts. Some people are not interested in them. Audiobooks are just as addictive as coffee in the morning. If you choose an interesting book, you will get carried away with the plot so quickly that you will look forward to listening to the next excerpt of your favorite work.

How to listen to audiobooks in English

You can just listen to the audiobook and have fun, it is suitable for those who understand English well by ear. And what about those who find it difficult to understand English speech? For them, there is a technique that, with regular use, will significantly improve your listening skills. How to do it? Use a simple technique:

1. Listen to a short excerpt from a book, for example, take one chapter. It's okay if you don't understand every word, at this stage try to catch common sense said.
2. Take the text of the book and turn on the recording. Listen to the speaker and at the same time follow the text with your eyes. Do not focus on unfamiliar words, try to guess their meanings from the context.
3. If you want to replenish your vocabulary, then highlight unfamiliar words in the text with a marker, then write them out from the text and learn them.
4. The next day after learning new words, listen to the audio recording of the chapter again, do not use the text, try to understand as much information as possible by ear.
5. Want to improve your pronunciation with your favorite book? Then listen to the speaker and repeat the text after him, trying to copy all the sounds and intonation of a native speaker. If you decide to use this technique, you need to find an audio recording read by a professional announcer with the correct pronunciation.

Where to Download Audiobooks in English: Top 7 Sites

Children's audiobooks

1. Storynory.com is a site with children's stories in English. Ideal for those who do not understand English well by ear: a native speaker with clear diction recites simple children's stories. The text of the recording is located right there, and all audio files can be downloaded for free.
2. Bookbox.com is a site with children's fairy tales. There are no texts for the recordings, the possibility of listening online too. But you can download any audio story for free and listen to it in free time. The text uses simple vocabulary that you can easily understand.

Audiobooks with lyrics

3. Etc.usf.edu is one of the most user-friendly audiobook sites out there. Each work is conveniently divided into chapters, and text is attached to the audio recordings. You can listen to audio and follow the text on the site, or you can download Mp3 recordings and text in PDF format. It should be noted that the audio recordings are presented in professional quality, so you may not need the text.
4. Nikolledoolin.com is a resource with a small selection of audiobooks, but all of them have text, so it's convenient to work with if you still find it difficult to understand an audio recording without text.

Audiobooks in English of various genres

5. Librivox.org is a resource thanks to which there are more and more free audiobooks in English every day. By clicking on the link, you will see two buttons: Volunteer and Catalog. The Volunteer button will take you to a page for volunteers - people who read books in English and post them on this site. The Catalog button will take you to the book catalog. You can easily find the audio recording you need by using the site search. Any book can be listened to online or downloaded for free.
6. Loyalbooks.com is a resource with over 7,000 free audiobooks in English. All audio files are conveniently divided into chapters, they can be listened to online or downloaded. Most of the recordings are read by professional speakers, the sound quality is good, so it will be easy for you to make out the words.
7. Thoughtaudio.com is a site with free audiobooks in English. Entries are presented in good quality, divided into chapters of the book, they can be downloaded for free or listened to directly on the site.

Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled “This could change your life”.

Books can be dangerous. The best of them should have a warning: "This book can change your life."

Helen Exley

We hope you enjoy our tips on how to learn English with audiobooks. In this article, we have presented 7 great resources, and in one of the following articles, we will tell you about 10 more cool sites with free audiobooks. Want to be the first to know about them? Then subscribe and get valuable advice from our teachers and useful links once a week!

A complete list of audiobooks in English that you can download or listen to online from the cloud, including books that are not formatted as separate recordings.

If you haven't found any audiobook on our site, we may not have had time to add the cover and description yet, but you can already download it here.

You can download adapted audiobooks in English both in the form of an audio recording voiced by a professional speaker (native speaker), and in the form of text in pdf format or doc, which is very convenient for serious and deep work with the selected work.

Level - Starter (the easiest audiobooks in English for beginners)

Level - Beginner

Elementary level

Level - Pre-Intermediate (adapted audiobooks in English of medium difficulty)

Level - Intermediate

Upper-Intermediate level

Adapted audiobooks by levels

Adapted audiobooks in English by levels (download)

(200-300 keywords)

(300-600 keywords)

(600-1100 keywords)

(1000-1400 keywords);

(1400-1700 keywords);

(1800-2300 keywords);

( 2500-3800 keywords).

Teaching English with Audiobooks

1. Listen. The method is suitable for those who good level language: just listen to audiobooks while having fun.

What does follow the speaker mean? There are two options here: listened - paused - read. Or: we read along with the announcer at his pace. Both are very useful.

7. Work with one fragment within 5 days.

In this case, one small piece of text for 10-15 minutes of reading is listened to 15-25 times, which ensures the memorization of not only vocabulary, but also grammatical structures. Subsequently, you will use similar constructions and words, which is called “on the machine” in live speech.

Try to pick a fragment medium difficulty so that it contains enough new words. It will be a shame to listen to the fragment 20 times because of 5 new words.

• The first day. We listen to audio, we do not look at the book. The goal is to capture the general meaning. You need to listen to the fragment 3-5 times in one day.

• Second day. Read to yourself and listen at the same time. Trying to guess the meaning of new words. After listening, check the new words in the dictionary. Play 3-5 times in one day.

• Day three and four. We read aloud together with the speaker, copying his pronunciation and intonation. Again, 3-5 times a day.

• Day five. We read the book ourselves, trying to remember and repeat the intonation and pronunciation of the announcer. Special attention turn to new words. We do everything again 3-5 times.

The main thing - do not lose interest, motivation. Who cares, he learns faster.

Many people like to read books, but not many people have time to read. Therefore, we offer a selection of 9 sites with the best audiobooks in English for children and adults. All resources are free and do not require registration, so now there are no obstacles between you and your favorite work.

1.Librophile.com

One of the largest and most popular audiobook sites in English. There are both free resources (“Free” tab) and paid audio recordings (“Buy” tab). Each of the chapters of all books is recorded as a separate audio track. You can listen to books on the site online, or you can download them completely free of charge to your computer or smartphone. The quality of the recordings is mostly above average. Native speakers speak at an average pace, unfortunately, there are no texts for books.

2. Voicesinthedark.com

Another well-known site with audiobooks in English, but with texts. On the main page, you will see a menu where you can select your favorite genre. Any work can be downloaded or listened to for free directly on the site. The main advantage of this resource is that for each audiobook you will find the text of the work, it is located under the links to the audio recordings. Therefore, if it is still difficult for you to perceive speech by ear without auxiliary text, we advise you to opt for this resource.

3. Freeclassicaudiobooks.com

The content of this site is fully consistent with its name: audiobooks in English belonging to classical literature are freely available here. There are few works on the site, but this resource still deserves attention. Each book is divided into chapters, they can be listened to online on the site or downloaded for free. The quality of the audio tracks is above average, native speakers read books at an average pace, but, again, there are no texts for the recordings.

4. Free-audio-books.co.uk

Another great resource that fans of classics will love. All audiobooks are divided by genre, so you can immediately choose your favorite type of literature. The works are divided into chapters, each of which is recorded as a separate audio file. Books can be listened to online on the site or downloaded for free. There are no texts for the works on the site, but the classics are easy to find freely available on the Internet, therefore, to facilitate the perception of English speech by ear, you can find the text of the work and use it in parallel with the audio recording.

5. Audiobooktreasury.com

A site that has both paid and free audiobooks in English. To choose a free book for yourself, go to the “Free Audio Books” section and choose your favorite genre. There are quite a lot of books on the site, but there are no texts for them. But there are fascinating classical and modern works. All books are divided into chapters, each of which can be downloaded separately or listened to directly on the site.

6.Robertmunsch.com

Audiobooks in English for children, read by Robert Mansh. The children's writer himself voices his fairy tales. The diction of this author is good, so it will be quite easy to understand him, although the intonation of the Manche may seem exotic to an unprepared listener, the author strives to show us the emotions of the heroes of fairy tales very vividly! Any work can be downloaded or listened to online for free.

7.Podiobooks.com

One of the most popular resources where you can find free modern audiobooks in English. Here are mainly works of not too famous authors. The books are well-read by professional speakers, so it will be quite easy to understand them, besides, modern literature is easy to understand: there are almost no archaisms and words rarely used in speech. The works are divided into chapters, they can be downloaded for free, or you can listen online.

8Miettecast.com

On this site you will find a selection of free audiobooks by English and Russian authors. If you have long wanted to listen to Chekhov or Dostoevsky in English, then you are here. Any audiobook can be downloaded for free, or you can listen online. To download the recording, right-click on the “Play” icon of the player and select the “Save audio as” menu item. There are no texts for the records on the site, so if necessary, you will have to look for them on the Internet.

9. Askbook.net

Russian site with audiobooks in English. It is easy to navigate, the recordings are laid out according to the same principle as on English-language sites: the work is divided into chapters, each of which can be listened to separately. You can listen to the book online, or you can download it to your computer. In addition, on the site you can choose an interesting work, focusing on its rating, as well as user reviews. By the way, before downloading, be sure to look at the comments on the book: some people write what level of knowledge the work is suitable for, and also indicate whether the quality of the recording is offered on the site.

We hope you enjoy listening to audiobooks in English and have added a couple of useful bookmarks for yourself. Listen to fascinating text, train your English listening comprehension skills and just enjoy listening. We wish you a pleasant pastime!

Learning a language will quickly give fruitful results if you approach it in a variety of ways, developing all the necessary skills in parallel with each other. One lesson should be devoted to grammar, the second to vocabulary and reading, the third to speaking, and the fourth to listening to speech. Moreover, all skills can be improved during one lesson, which is greatly helped by audio books in English for beginners. With them, students learn new vocabulary, observe the application of grammar in practice, perceive the English accent and improve their pronunciation. AT this material here are some of the best English books for newbies.

Books are a good method for learning English, but you need to be able to work with it correctly.

We note right away that we strongly recommend that beginners use only adapted versions of English works. Yes, everyone wants to immediately learn to understand the text in the original language, but miracles do not happen. Grasping for complex stories, you will get confused in grammar and a large amount of new vocabulary, and as a result, you will abandon such an important task as working out the perception of English speech.

Adapted audiobooks in English for beginners are written with the simplest grammatical constructions, and the whole plot is revealed with the help of several hundred expressions of active basic vocabulary. The exact number of words depends on the level of preparation of the student: for complete beginners there are about 200-300 words, for owners basic knowledge 300-600, for an average rate over 1000, etc.

Learning English from books consists of several stages:

• listening to an audio recording;
• text reading;
• work with vocabulary and translation;
• repeat listening.

First, you perceive English by ear, then work through obscure moments by reading, write out and learn new words. And the next day, consolidate all the studied material by listening to the audio recording again.

So, it is time to move from the theoretical analysis of the methodology to its practical implementation. The following are the most interesting and easy books on learning English.

Adapted Audiobooks in English for Beginners

Here you can download your favorite audiobook and its text version, or view a short educational story video.

Starter level

Very small pieces are ideal for those who have just started learning English.

The Umbrella (by Clare Harris)

A touching story, the action of which begins with a cloudy rainy day, and ends with warmth and comfort in the soul. A fascinating detective-romantic story will not leave indifferent fans of this genre.

Ski race (by Eleanor Jupp)

A fast-paced narrative about skiing competitions and the will of the participants to win. Sport is not only strength and passion, but also the deceit of rivals. Will the heroes be able to win this ski relay race?

Alissa

A story about a little girl Alice who loves to read and learn. She is hardworking, kind, smart, honest and accommodating. However, few in modern world appreciates such qualities, so our heroine will have to go through a lot of troubles and misadventures. Are they able to eradicate in an inquisitive girl her desire for goodness and knowledge? We'll find out at the end of the story!

Sara says no (by Norman Whitney)

And this audiobook tells the story of a girl, Sarah, who helps her father at work. Trading in the market is a very profitable business, but not always fair. Children's naivety and faith in goodness and justice are clearly not the place here. But sometimes miracles happen and the world gets better, right?

Beginner level

Books are suitable for those who have been studying the language for several months. The works are supplied with a glossary and small tasks.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (by Mark Twain)

The most famous children's book, which, according to the author, was written just for adults. With hooligan and restless Tom, you will plunge into the fascinating world of fun and adventure. Do not miss the opportunity to get acquainted with the original a classic, which has earned good reputation all over the world.

Sherlock Holmes. The Blue Diamond (By Arthur Conan Doyle)

Another classic, the hero of whose works is known all over the world. Why listen and read this book? Elementary Watson. A detective story from a recognized master of the pen will appeal not only to connoisseurs of the genre, but also to those who want to get acquainted with the deductive method of Sir Sherlock Holmes for the first time.

Elementary level

These texts are intended for students who have been studying English for more than six months. The stories use more than 1000 words and are also provided with additional questions to the text.

The woman in black (by Susan Hill)

A mystical story that became the basis for the sensational film adaptation. This book is a kind of cocktail that many will enjoy. Its components: gothic atmosphere, classic English nebula, a bit of a detective story, a bit of mysticism and, of course, an unexpected denouement. The author managed not only to withstand the tension throughout the story, but also to combine it with a very dynamic plot. The book is read and listened to very excitingly and quickly.

Frankenstein

The classic is a fascinating mixture of gothic romance and science fiction. A talented scientist comprehends the most terrible secret of life and uses this secret to conduct his own experiments. As a result, unwittingly, he creates a monster that becomes his curse for many years. Whether the creator will conquer his creation or fall victim to it will only be known at the end of the story.