Still thinking: Audio Books

So, I'm still contemplating that idea of looking at the design of introductory language text-books as a Masters project. Part of me still really wants to play with the Introduction to Anglo Saxon concept, but lately I've been toying with another "output":

Audio books.

One of my pet peeves with educational material is the fact that they all lock you to something with your eyes. You'll either be locked to a book or a computer screen. You may, if you are lucky, also have the option of trading the computer screen for a TV screen, if you have a DVD as part of your materials.

Generally speaking, though, you have to be in a position to read something or watch something - you never have the freedom to just listen. Even the audiotapes usually come with a workbook, so that you have to read while listening in order to get anything useful out of it.

This is a pain, because there are so many times during the day when one might not be at liberty to read, but could still listen to something. You can listen to something while washing the dishes, but you can't read a book. You can listen to something while driving the car, but you can't watch a DVD. You can listen to something while going for a walk, but you can't work through a series of cleverly created activities on a computer.

And, you know, sometimes you get to a stage when reading things starts to give you a headache and you just can't look at a screen any longer. When I did my undergrad degree, I often found myself at a point where I would have happily paid extra to have audio copies of my textbooks and readings - but such things were only available to students with documented visual disabilities. "My eyes get tired and I sometimes have to walk or drive somewhere" doesn't really get you access to that sort of stuff.

It was the same when I started reading bucket loads of journal articles and books for my post-grad degree.

When I first started looking at language learning, I was looking at "teach yourself" material, which has a much stronger focus on "do this in your car!", but there's a strange element to those "in your car!" packages - they seem to all be trying to brainwash you, rather than teach you. With language learning material there is a very clear line between "learn this language in ten days without having to do any work!" packages and material designed to actually support proper language learning, and sadly most of the audio material that is reasonably stand-alone falls on the wrong side of that line.

I was over the moon when I discovered the joys of podcasts. So much good stuff based on the old radio concept of people listening to things they can't see.

I am particularly enamoured of podcasts like germangrammarpod, which assumes you are an intelligent person who can understand complex ideas when someone explains them in a clear and rational manner, and Italianpod.com, which uses a lot of the strengths of radio to make the audio experience interesting and fun, but makes sure you actually learn a decent range of concepts in the ten minutes provided.

But, and this is an important observation, I think, the podcasts I find most useful are either produced by individuals for their own personal amusement, or as part of a "teach yourself" package. I still haven't come across anything that could be considered a decent introductory "text" for language students that has a stand-alone audio component.

So, maybe I could look into what kind of information is covered in your standard introductory text, and look at what needs to be done to usefully format it for an audio book concept - turn the idea of the undergrad language text package on its head: instead of having a text-based book with some audio accompaniment to augment it, have an audio-based book with some text for augmentation.

The idea being: if you can take the time to look at something while listening, then you could get more out of the package. But if all you can do is listen right now, then you won't be getting less.