The simplicity of using Audio books

An audio book is a recorded version of a text being read. It delivers the same message as a particular printed text and all someone has to do is, listen. Just about time when the reading culture was dying out as early as the 1930’s, audio books were introduced to enhance the transfer of information written in novels. Audio books had a way of captivating both book fans as well as those who cared less about reading. They were shelved separately in their first years, but when they proved to gross up in sales, even past their written versions, audio books got stocked alongside written books in libraries. In the 1980’s when they became popular worldwide, audio books have since played a big role in spreading people’s opinion and fiction. In the case of the visually impaired who cannot read stories from written novels, audio books enable them to know what happens at the coral islands, know who Harry Porter is, learn from Shakespeare and enjoy many more pieces of literature. At 67 years, Prof. Anicef Bucyensege says “I would never have the eyes to complete a book at my age, even though I loved reading when I was in Secondary School and College. Today, I use audio to at least revisit my favorite volumes.” Here we are, in the 21 Century, an era where time is never enough to read books cover to cover. However, with their audio versions, which are not as tiring as turning pages and pages of text, anyone can hear a story while sipping coffee, fixing a car problem and or working out at a gym. Most keen readers, especially those who use books to learn a language, prefer combining reading text with listening to its audio version. “In our French class, we used to read the study books and then listen to the play in order to know the real pronunciation of the words,” notes Fiona Umutesi, a 2nd year student at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB), Kigali. “It helped us to master the language so easily.” However, audio books are not easily available when it comes down to learning new languages in most developing communities. In Rwanda for instance, a few people are knowledgeable about audio books. And not every article or every interesting magazine has an audio book to follow with it. Inspite of this, audio books have changed the meaning of storytelling and readers are able to get a glimpse of their favorite author’s work amidst their hectic schedules. emma.mprince@gmail.com