Val Harrison
Aug 10, 20208 min
Click to listen to Episode 48:
Today, we’re talking about making quality, wholesome, character-building AUDIO ADVENTURES a routine part of your child’s life. Our family has had many family adventures thanks to our podcast guest this week! He is a professional voice performer and one of my family's favorite story tellers, Jim Hodges of Jim Hodges Audio Books. Jim & I have a lively discussion about lots of things, including how weaknesses in our kids can lead to great adventures, a game-changing tip for slow readers, and the impact of quality content on the shaping of our child's character!
You know listening to audiobooks can be fun, but did you know listening to an audio book has lots of other benefits? Here are my top 5.
#1 Benefit: Audiobooks Save Time!
One of the greatest benefits of audiobooks is that you and your kids can save a lot of time by multitasking - provided the other tasks do not require too much of your attention of course!
Think driving to soccer, piano lessons, or church, nap time or bed time, or family time in the evening.
Other times people love listening to audiobooks is in the gym, or while going for a walk, or while carrying out their daily routines like cooking or cleaning.
The best routine I've heard is from a mom in South Carolina:
Every day, while making and eating lunch, Mom puts on the next chapter of one of my Henty audiobook recordings. Everybody gets to listen to a chapter while making and eating their lunch. Chapters are typically 30-40 minutes long so that works just about right.
After the chapter is over Mom gets to ask questions to make sure everyone is following the story. She also defines new vocabulary words (or looks them up!) or clarifies relationships between characters or shows on a map where the action took place.
Once the book is completed and everyone's had a chance to listen together as a family, they have a drawing to see who gets to listen to it alone first, and then everyone takes turns listening on their own devices when it works for them.
Everyone hears the story. Mom gets to ensure they all followed and understood it. She also ensures that the moral lessons exemplified are clearly understood and emphasized, that there is a connection made between good morals and good outcomes.
# 2 Benefit: Audiobooks Improve Pronunciation and Fluency.
While the narrator reads, you will notice and learn, quite passively and accidentally, the way he is pronouncing different words.
Not only that, but you will notice his ✔reading speed, ✔his pauses, ✔stresses, and ✔intonations, which are very crucial in having fluency and command over any language.
What you may not know is that, as the narrator, I spend nearly a month preparing a book for recording before I ever turn on a microphone. While reading the book quietly to myself I'm underling words I'm not sure how to pronounce. Specifically I'm looking at the names of rivers and mountains and cities and actual people from history.
I own a regular dictionary, a geographic dictionary, and a biographic dictionary which I use to look up unusual words, places, and people. It's been a huge help to me. There are also sites on the internet where you can ask "how to pronounce _____."
If your children follow along in the text of one of my recordings, they will see that words often are not pronounced the way you'd think based on their spelling! Think Versailles. It's pronounced ver-SEYE. Who'd have thought that? Nobody, unless they were French.
# 3 Benefit: Audiobooks Are Wonderful for Struggling Readers
There seems to be a increase in the number of people diagnosed with reading difficulties.
Maybe, just maybe, it's really that we are just better at identifying their issues.
It is now widely believed that Thomas Edison, Nicolas Tesla, Leonardo Da Vinci, Alexander Graham Bell, and Jules Verne were all dyslexic.
There was no diagnoses of course, but all the evidence appears to be there.
Do you think they would have loved audiobooks? I'll bet they would have!
Do you have a child who is a struggling reader? Or who has been diagnosed with dyslexia or any related issue?
What benefits would accrue if you included audiobooks into their day?
# 4 Benefit: You Get an Interesting and Lively Experience of the Story!
Not to toot my own horn (well, maybe a little) the personality of the narrator can really enhance the flow and feel of a story!
My goal when I record a book is to translate the written word into mental pictures for you - of people and places and situations, and also help you to understand the plot better.
When you are watching a movie, everything is done for you. Facial expressions, tone of voice, actual appearance of a character, seeing where the story takes place - no imagination required!
On the other hand, when listening to an audiobook, it's almost entirely up to the reader to take the words of the author, and help you visualize all that in your head.
Of course the author's descriptions form the foundation of the story, and many authors are quite descriptive, which is really helpful, not only to the listener, but to the reader.
If it weren't for the author's description, how would I know anything about the character? How am I supposed to translate that into their voice, their attitude, their story?
The narrator's job is to get into the author's head - to take the words of the author and accurately present the story and bring the personality of each character to life.
I do this with character voices of course, but also by varying my inflections, emphases, pauses, accents, and cadences.
SO much of a story can be told with those elements, in addition to the actual words spoken.
When a narrator uses all of the tools available to him, it really does transform the words of the author into an interesting, lively, and fun experience for the listeners!
# 5 Benefit: Audiobooks Build "Critical Listening" Skills!
Not surprisingly, listening to audiobooks assists in the development of listening skills!
In life, it's vitally important to be able to really listen when people speak. Whether it's a teacher or pastor or parent or employer or friend or spouse, truly listening is one of the most important skills you can develop.
First and foremost, you want to ensure that you completely understand what is expected of you or what an authority over you has required of you or what your friend or spouse is feeling. If you haven't developed the critical skill of listening, how are you going to know if you got the information right?
Anyone can just listen to a story or a book. However, the purpose for listening, or reading for that matter, is not just to be a recipient of a story or information - that's great for younger listeners for sure and what many people refer to as "pleasure reading" or "pleasure listening."
But eventually, we all need to develop the skill of analyzing the logic of the information being transmitted, determining if the author has "made the case," so to speak, and judging the accuracy and legitimacy of the information being shared.
I've been recording books for 20 years now. I love reading out loud and believe that by listening to audiobooks you can greatly enhance your home by saving you time, improving your pronunciation skills, helping your struggling reader, experiencing a great story, and building your critical listening skills.
About this week's guest, Jim Hodges:
https://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/ Jim Hodges is a committed Christian, husband to Monica for 40 years, father of 3 grown home-schooled children, and Navy retiree. Monica once asked what his dream job would be? He answered "I'd record books." And so began Jim Hodges Audio Books, producing (at last count!) 30 unabridged recordings of the G. A. Henty historical novels, plus 50 other family friendly recordings.
Get a FREE Download from Jim: https://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/free-download-subscription/
Jim's SPECIAL for August 2020 https://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/shop/canyon-of-danger/
Join Jim's Monthly Club for getting 60% off your choice of a monthly download: https://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/shop/monthly-subscription-2/
Get a free download of Jim's recording of the entire historically accurate book “Under Drake’s Flag” an adventure novel set within the story of Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe by G. A. Henty at this link:
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