Can anyone show me auidobook here in the system how is good to learn to understand english. I am asking because i thought maybe some of the books are using vocabulary from old times how is hard to understand for english learner like me.
I was maybe thinking about this one
Intermediate 2 - advanced - is my level
froskur, this was written more than 125 years ago, and the language is old fashioned. The dialogue, especially, can be a bit difficult even for native English speakers. We have to slow down sometimes to handle the “local dialects” with the apostrophes. They don’t write dialogue like that anymore, thankfully. Which is not to say that it isn’t a good book.
I don’t have a recommendation for you from among LingQ’s stock of recordings, as I don’t know what is there, and I’d just be dipping in the selection randomly. Have you found any recordings that you think are the right level of difficulty for you?
[Added] Well, I took a quick look, anyway. This seems to me like a solidly Intermediate 2-Advanced 1 level: Transportation in the United States - LingQ Language Library Perhaps the diction could be a little clearer for a learner, but this is what you would normally hear in North America. What do you think? If it does seem okay, try others provided by LingQ that are listed as Intermediate 2.
The audiobooks here are not going to be modern. But, there are so many English audiobooks out there. Tens of thousands.
If you are going to listen to an audiobook, it would be a really good idea to choose one that you already know well. Then if there’s a bit you don’t understand, you can still remember what happens at that part.
Oh, sorry. You did say audiobook. What sort of thing would you like to read? There are some newer books on librivox that could be imported to LingQ, and texts may be available–science fiction, adventure fiction, etc. Few if any of these are really new, but they are newer than Huck Finn.
I searched in librivox.org and found no book how was newer than from 1950. But i think i have never read a whole book in my life so i dont know what im interesting in haha. Adventure fiction sound great, maybe child book could be a good choice im open for everything. Its okay if its boring too, as long as its not too easy. Thanks for all your helps, now i know i need to find more modern book.
And sorry for my bad writing.
If you like Science Fiction, try “A Princess of Mars”, by Edgar R. Burroughs. It’s a book I love, and the guy who reads it is a professional. It’s short, entertaining and not very difficult, I think.
Here’s a link to it on librivox: LibriVox
You can also try some more recent Sci Fi, which can also be found on librivox, from authors like C. S. Lewis, Fritz Leiber, Marion Bradley Zimmer, Henry Kuttner, all of them from the 20th Century.
Here’s a list of all books read by this guy I mentioned (his name is Mark Nelson): https://catalog.librivox.org/people_public.php?peopleid=251
For more recent books, there isn’t much that is free, but there’s also a wide selection.
Froskur: Looking through what Librivox has for adventure, science fiction, and children’s books, here’s what I found:
These science fiction authors are fairly recent and not so difficult as many others: Poul Anderson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ray Cummings, Henry Kutner, Andre Norton, Alan E. Nourse. H. Beam Piper. As you can see, Elric and I listed some of the same authors. I went through the librivox science fiction catalog and can list all the most recent authors, if you would like, but many of them are rather difficult reading.
You might try Zane Grey, who wrote adventure novels about the American West.
Among children’s authors: Jim Kjelgaard, is fairly recent. L. Frank Baum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and many others) wrote his books 100 years ago and more, but his style is not complex, and the stories may carry you along fairly well. Or is that too easy? Reading children’s stories is a very good idea. Perhaps Helen (skyblueteapot) will have some good suggestions for you.
I agree with Elric: Mark Nelson is a very good reader, and he speaks clearly. That is just what a language learner needs. Maybe Edgar Rice Burroughs’ style is a little old fashioned–but maybe not. He wrote great adventure stories, and many of them are on librivox. So if you like him, there is plenty to choose from. Currently I am reading a Russian audiobook of A Princess of Mars. I certainly don’t want to discourage you from trying to read it. (Elric, I’m on chapter 17, but I read the chapters over and over, so I move slowly.)
Let us all know what you like or don’t like, Froskur.
I meant to suggest E. Nesbit, a firm favourite still among British children and parents. Maybe you have seen the films, “The Railway Children” or “Five children and It”? If not they would be easy to get hold of.
I did a text analysis of “The Railway Children” and found that it contained about 8 000 headwords, which is maybe at the top end of upper intermediate.
Be aware that most novels, even ones aimed at children, are usually written at about advanced 1 level. At this stage you can’t expect to understand one easily. That’s why I suggest picking one where you already know the story well, or that you can find a filmed version of.
Children’s stories are a good option. I’ve read Andersen’s fairy tales in German, but that’s probably not much easier than, say, Hermann Hesse.
A good English language author for learners is Hemingway, who has a simple straightforward writing style.
I was watching a video from Professor Arguelles the other day where he analyses two books with the help of a corpus software. One of the books was “Pinocchio”, and the result was that you need to know about 7,000 words (or word families, as he calls them) to read “Pinocchio” with 99% comprehension. The other was “Moby Dick”, which came out at about 17,000 words. Now, of course, “Moby Dick” has a lot of specialized vocabulary, but it’s an example of a “hard” reading even for a native.
Anyway, I’m rambling. Here’s a link to the video, if anyone’s interested:
Ah yes, it was that fine video that inspired me to analyse The Railway Children using his technique.
And here is Pinocchio on Librivox: LibriVox.
I did a text analysis of “The Railway Children” and found that it contained about 8 000 headwords, which is maybe at the top end of upper intermediate.
That’s good to know; I figured from distant recollection that they were too old fashioned and complex. They’re great stories; my children enjoyed several of them read aloud,; The Five Children and It, The Treasure Seekers, and the Phoenix and the Carpet, were the ones, if I recall correctly. There are plenty to choose from on Librivox.
Many of the books you suggested are a good, thanks for all the answers. Im going to pick one:D
Edit: But do someone know how many words are in english, and how many words people who speak english fluently know an average. Im just curious
Total and average English vocabulary, various estimates:
It’s sort of a thorny issue, isn’t it? I think 24,000 word families for an average educated native speaker sounds about right.
Froskur, revisiting the question of librivox SF: just the other day I came across this link: Titles marked with tag Librivox I hope you’ll find that useful. Some of the selections are fairly recent.