Elijah Wood's Huckleberry Finn

A few days ago, I wrote about the ten audiobook titles that are available for free on audible.com once you've "purchased" corresponding free Kindle e-book titles on Amazon.com. I've listened to the initial chapters of some of them so far, and I'm glad to report that those I've listened to are of good quality in terms of narrators' performance.

Anne Hathaway's reading of The Wizard of Oz is animated, captivating, and is a delight to listen to. Kenneth Brannagh is solid and masterful (as he usually is) in his performance of Heart of Darkness. But special praise goes to Elijah Wood for his rendering of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The story seems to come alive when read in his authentic-sounding southern accent, which is an experience that you'd never get just by silently following written words on the pages. The rhythm and tone of this strangely vibrant dialect is completely lost unless read out aloud (and well). Listening to this performance, one would imagine Elijah Wood is a native of one of the southern states like Mississippi or Missouri: surprisingly, he is from Iowa -- according to Wikipedia. Somehow that didn't click, so I googled some more, and found that Wood starred in a 1993 film version of the novel. He must have been, what, 12 years old or so at the time. Given this experience, I guess he's practically a native born southerner. In any case, his performance is very well-balanced. Not over-the-top hilarious nor grumpy and self-pitying, but rather quaintly detached despite the most curious and often heart-rending events that keep haunting the protagonist. (I've only listened to the first hour or two, but I'm completely engrossed already.) This is an excellent listen. Highly recommended.

オーディオブック好きに朗報：AudibleのオーディオブックとKindleのe-book（いずれも英語版）がセットで10タイトル無料！

（広くお知らせしたいので今回は日本語で。）

長らく市販のオーディオブックからは遠ざかっていたが、この間たまたま米国Amazon.comでこんなキャンペーンを見かけた。Kindle版の電子書籍を買うと、同じ本のオーディオブックが格安で買える、というものだ（Whispersync for Voiceというキーワードで検索できる）。その一環として、古典的小説10タイトルが、Kindle e-bookとAudibleオーディオブック抱き合わせでどれも無料となっている。

無料タイトルは以下のとおり（朗読者には著名な俳優も混じっているので、それも併記した）。

二都物語
ドラキュラ（朗読：アラン・カミング他）
三銃士
オズの魔法使い（朗読：アン・ハサウェイ）
ハックリベリー・フィンの冒険（朗読：イライジャ・ウッド）
ガリバー旅行記
闇の奥（朗読：ケネス・ブラナー）
ジェーン・エア
若き芸術家の肖像
モル・フランダース

リンクは
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=amb_link_364864422_2?ie=UTF8&node=5744839011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0SCTZEP052KPWNMNBYXY&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=1395819702&pf_rd_i=1000827761

Whispersync for Voiceとは何かというと、Kindleで電子書籍を読み、好きなところでオーディオブックに切り替えて続きを聞き、また電子書籍でその続きを読む…といったことが簡単にできる機能、という触れ込みだ。ただし実際にやってみると、アンドロイド端末やデスクトップのKindleアプリではうまく同期しないことが多いので、いろんな端末でスムーズな切り替えができる、などとは期待しないほうがいい。（Kindle Fire端末を持っていれば、オーディオブックを聴きながら同時に画面にテキストがハイライト表示される、という機能（Immersion Readingなるもの）も利用できるらしいが、僕はこの端末を持っていないのでなんともいえない。）

こういう同期機能は、正直それほど必要とは思えない。むしろオーディオブック好きにとっての最大のメリットは、名作の電子書籍とプロのナレーターによるオーディオブックのセットが無料で10タイトルも入手できる、という点だ。

Audibleのオーディオブックは高すぎるという印象を持っている人も多いと思うが、このチャンスに10タイトルだけ無料で入手しておいて損はない。無料タイトルはどれも著作権の切れた古典なので、電子書籍は無料でも当たり前だと思うが、プロが朗読した商品としてのオーディオブックが無料で手に入る機会はあまりない。読み手には有名な役者もいるし、そのほかのナレーターもおそらく経験豊富な人たちだろうから、各者のお手並みを拝見するのも一興だろう。

とはいえ、タダほど恐いものはない、という格言もある。仕掛け人のAmazonにも何らかの胸算用があることは間違いない。Amazonは2008年にAudibleを買収しているが、その後特にAudibleをうまく活用している様子は見られなかった。おそらくAmazonとしてもAudibleを使って売上を伸ばしたい目論見があるのだろう。

だから、この無料タイトルを利用するには、まずAmazonでKindle電子書籍を購入しなければならない（無料だが購入手続きは必要。もしかしたらアカウントは米国Amazon.comのアカウントを持っている必要があるかもしれないので、各自お調べいただきたい）。そしてその後Audibleにログインし、ペアになっているオーディオブックを購入する（同じく無料だが手続きが必要）、という手順になる。登録時にクレジットカード情報の入力も必要なので、そこがタダでは済まない代償部分といえなくもない。

いずれにせよ、こうして新規顧客に購入手続きを実体験させて「けっこう手軽でいいじゃないか」と思わせ、他の有料タイトルも抵抗なく購入してもらう、というのがAmazon側の狙いの１つだろう。その程度の代償だったらたいしたことはない。ただで手に入れられるものは全部もらっておいて、あとはサヨナラしても構わないんだし。

さて、この無料オーディオブック、10タイトル合わせると長さは100時間以上にもなる。定価で買えば200ドルぐらいにはなるんじゃないだろうか（これがそもそも高すぎるのだ！）。多分玉石混交だろうから、全部聴くことはしないだろうが、何人かは参考になるパフォーマンスがあるのではと期待している。僕自身はこの10タイトル中3つを以前録音しているが、今回は改めて本場のプロの技に触れて刺激を受けたいと思う。

ついでに白状すると、一時期は惰性的に駄作ばかり出していたジョン・グリシャムがこのところ再び人気を回復しているらしいので、The Litigatorsという1年ほど前に出た作品を7.71ドルで購入し、これと抱き合わせのオーディオブックも3.95ドルと安かったので買ってみた。まだ途中だが、読み手はあまり上手ではなく（結構端役でテレビや映画で見かける俳優なのだが）、まるでやっつけ仕事だ。稽古の読み合わせぐらいの低いテンションで、基本的には単調きわまりない読み方だ。ときどきむりに抑揚をつけて強調したりもしているのだが、これがまた的外れで、聴いていて気恥ずかしくなる。でも、プラス3.95ドルで済んだからまあ許せるかな。電子書籍とペアでなければオーディオブックだけで17.95ドルもとるのだが、とてもそれだけのクオリティの朗読ではない。こういう質の悪いものが、当たり前のように高い値段で売られているのは正直残念だ。（小説そのものは、読みやすいが中味は薄そう。でもまだ3分の1程度までしか読み進んでいないから、論評は差し控える。）

それはともかく、Kindle+Audibleの無料オファーはいつまで続くか分からないので、興味のある人は今のうちに入手しておこう。

The Other Brain by R. Douglas Fields

[Book Prefaces]

The Other Brain by R. Douglas Fields

Play/download mp3 file

First, a word of explanation about this new series.

I've posted several recordings of book intros and prefaces before, and they were mostly from books I've read through and made recordings of. But I've decided to try something different as well from time to time.

One of the problems with reading books aloud is that it takes time. You can't just skim a book if you are to read it out loud; you pretty much need to follow every word in it. It could take anywhere between three hours to a few days to finish reading just one book, depending on how thick the volume is. It's a lot of time to invest, so the book better be good. But how do you know if the book is worth spending so much time on? The plain fact is, there is no way you can predict beforehand if you are going to like the book or not. But the preface could give you a pretty good idea about the book, and it seems worth spending a little time reading the intro. So, instead of just skimming the prefaces, I decided to start reading them out loud, recording and listening to them to ensure I get a clear picture of what the author is trying to get at. It doesn't really take that much time, and you'll figure out the author's quirks, get a feel for his/her writing style, and learn some fundamental facts about the theme of the book. It gives you a good reading exercise, and you can choose the right book for you while exercising. Sounds like it's worth a try, doesn't it?

Prefaces are usually included in free book samples available from some online vendors including Amazon. There are a lot of free samples out there. If you have a Kindle, you can instantly download free samples. If you happen to like the preface, you might be tempted to buy the book and record the whole thing, which is what Amazon is counting on anyway (not the recording part, just the buying part).

So, where to start? I've glanced at the list of books recommended for me by Amazon, and chosen the top six. That's where. It's a pretty skewed selection, to be honest, probably because I don't buy Kindle books often, and the last one I picked (Erik Kandel's In Search of Memory) must have weighed inordinately heavily in generating this list: all top items are about the brain and neuroscience! Fascinated as I am about the subject, it looked to me like a bit of overkill, but no matter; I'll start from there and see where this journey will lead me to! And here's the first one.

英語音読

The End of the Space Age

From a recent issue of the Economist. A rather disparaging account of international space programs and their future.

Play/download mp3 file

I don't like the word "space cadets" used repeatedly in this article, by the way. It seems to insinuate that those who follow the lead of the likes of Carl Sagan are a bunch of starry-eyed boy scouts. But I shouldn't prejudice you. Listen and judge for yourself.

I'm using the free "Economist" iPhone app to access selected Economist articles for some time now, but I didn't realize until a few days ago that the application had an audio feature. In fact, you can download and listen to recordings of all articles (the above article included), read not by software but by human narrators.

That being the case, is it superfluous for us to read the Economist articles out loud and record it? Far from it, at least from a viewpoint of someone struggling to read English well. In fact, I'd encourage you to do it. You can then compare your performance with that of narrators hired by the Economist. Mind you, their art of reading is not exactly the gold standard, so don't go trying to imitate them. Generally speaking, learning by uncritical mimicking is a bad idea in the long run. But there are things you can learn from them; how they emphasize certain parts of speech to get the meaning across, for instance. If you think the way they handle a particular phrase is effective, steal it. Take what you need and discard the rest. Keep on doing that and someday, hopefully soon, you'll find that you have got your own style.

英語音読

Chimps Are Good Listeners, Too

Ooops! Sorry, wrong file.. I've fixed the link now. (July 6)
Play/download mp3 file

So, even some chimps can comprehend spoken English words, huh. I think this story should encourage us who study foreign languages. It shows that elementary vocal communication is possible even on an interspecies level. It makes intercultural communication seem like a breeze. I think a major obstacle for us in trying to comprehend foreign languages is our tendency to squeeze foreign sounds we hear into the phonetic template of our native language -- it's like trying to push a square peg into a round hole. Something always gets lost in the process. To avoid that, you've got to build a whole new vocal template for each new language you learn, and that takes time. (But reading aloud and recording your own performance for self-assessment should help this process a lot.)

From the Science Now page on the Science magazine website.

英語音読

村上春樹 カタルーニャ賞受賞スピーチ 1/3

Play/download mp3 file

The Catalonia International Prize acceptance speech by Haruki Murakami, June 11, 2011. Part 1 of 3.
The speech was delivered in Japanese. The English translation has been borrowed from this site. I've found at least one other translation, and possibly there are some other versions by other volunteers. I liked the version used here because it seemed to carry the speaker's "voice" well enough.

Parts 2 and 3 will be posted in a few days.

英語音読

Egyptian Pyramids, foreign languages, etc.

Here's another article from the Science magazine site.

Play/download mp3 file

Totally unrelated to today's audio clip, here are some musings on rapid reading in foreign languages.

Advocates of rapid reading argue that the habit of voicing the words as you read them needs to be gotten rid of. They contend that our brain can process visual information much faster than sound, and that vocalizing the text can only slow down the process of comprehension. It sounds persuasive, but there is a major flaw to this argument, especially when applied to texts written in foreign languages.

I'll give you a simple example. Let's imagine you are a master of rapid reading and also have a photographic memory. Since you are the expert at rapid reading, you never vocalize what you read, not even in your mind, but simply process the text as visual images. Now, suppose you've been given a book in Russian to rapid-read. You quickly begin scanning the book and commit pages after pages to your photographic memory in no time. You are so good at this that you've not only memorized the entire book but also can instantly recall any word on any page. Unfortunately, however, it happens that you don't know Russian -- so you can't pronounce any of the words, and you have no idea what these words mean. Your formidable photographic memory serves absolutely no purpose in understanding the text you've so assiduously stored in your brain. What you've accomplished by rapid-reading the Russian text was just to add to your cerebral library a book that you can't read!

What this example demonstrates is the fact that you need to be very familiar with the language in which you intend to rapid-read. I'd imagine the level of language proficiency is crucial to text comprehension, whether read at a normal speed or lightning-fast.

I cited rapid reading as an example because practitioners of rapid reading appear to be unreasonably hostile to the idea of reading out loud. (They are also against whispering, and are even opposed to silently moving your lips and voice-producing muscles.) As far as learning a foreign language is concerned, I think it is de rigueur to read the text out loud until you are thoroughly accustomed to voicing the language, because this exercise builds the basis of successful verbal communication in English. As you get the hang of speaking the words out loud and get better at making yourself understood, you become more attuned to the sounds of English, and your listening comprehension also improves. Then you can move on to subvocalization (reading silently with or without moving voice-producing muscles, hearing the sounds only in your mind), and eventually to rapid-reading if that is what you want. But trying to rapid-read English before you've achieved some level of ease with verbal communication in English could be counterproductive.

英語音読

Who Needs a Moon?

Interested in science ?

Play/download mp3 file

A wonderful collection of latest news flash on science is found here at the Science Now page on the Science magazine website. Scientifically-minded learners of English should make a habit of reading these articles out loud (and record them for self-assessment while your are at it).

英語音読

E. カンデル 記憶の探究

Preface from In Search of Memory by Eric Kandel, a Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. This is an autobiography, but is also an introduction to cellular and molecular biology pertaining to how information is stored in our brain. Surprisingly easy to comprehend, considering the complexity of the science involved. A well-written, intellectually stimulating book. It seems the book hasn't been translated into Japanese yet. It's our loss, but you can always go to the original! If you have a Kindle, or a Kindle app for mobile phone, you can get the book for just $11 or so.

Play/download mp3 file

I need to say a few words of praise for Kindle here. For those who want to practice reading English text aloud, a combination of Kindle and Gutenberg project is a godsend. You can download loads of copyright-free material from the Gutenberg site in Kindle format onto your PC, and then copy it to your Kindle via a USB connection. Most of the text I've recorded recently for this site have been obtained this way, and Kindle makes it easy to read aloud while operating a recording device. Turning a page of a physical book takes two hands, while with Kindle you can do it with the slightest movement of a finger! An additional bonus is that the character size can be changed at will. Of course you can purchase more recent stuff, too, but don't put too much hope on that; a lot of new books of interest aren't available on Kindle if you reside outside the U.S. The real boon, at least for the likes of me, is the sheer wealth of free stuff that is available online for Kindle.

英語音読

オーステン Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 13

Weekend Theater 1

Chapter 13 of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

Play/download mp3 file

Random musings (continued)

Last time I spoke about setting up a Japanese-free space around you. Why is this important? Because our eyes and ears are quick to detect information in Japanese, they tend to lock onto Japanese. Once that happens, very little information in other languages gets noticed. It is precisely for this reason that books and websites written in Japanese are ultimately ineffective as an aid to teach English. Because readers' minds keep operating in Japanese, their brains fail to make the crucial switch to the English mode. When you build an English-only environment, in contrast, it allows you to see the world only through the medium of English, and you form a habit of doing everything using that language alone, thus a firm connection is built between English texts/sounds/expressions and their meaning. Once you achieve this state of mind, eventually you'll get to a stage where you don't have to fish for the meaning of words and phrases anymore, because the meaning will come to you as effortlessly as it does in Japanese.

英語音読