Do Audiobooks Count as Reading?
I plan on becoming an avid listener who poses (or doubles) as an avid reader. I’ve always been more auditory than visual and my retention and recall rate is much higher with aural stimuli than visual or tactile ones. I love the idea of reading (who doesn’t?), but I’ve never been one to sit and read for an extended period of time. Everyone knows the benefits and joys of reading, but there are a few things I hate about reading:
- My eyes get tired and I fall asleep
- It is a sedentary activity
- It is time-consuming
- It requires too much visual focus and concentration
- It is boring
I’ve concluded that audiobooks are the way to go for me most of the time. I will still buy books and read in the traditional sense – especially if I happen to enjoy an author’s literary style; since one of the major advantages of traditional reading is the improvement of one’s own writing style and technique. But overall, the content osmosis that takes place by reading or listening should be based on one’s learning style and preference. It’s time we got rid of learning style elitism and prejudice anyway.
The final word should go to blind folks who rely on tactile and aural learning exclusively – they may be blind, but they still read, do they not?
