The Chronicles of Narnia, according to one writer, is one of the few sets of books that everyone should read three times – in childhood, in early adulthood, and late in life. Many of my students have enjoyed the Chronicles, written by C.S. Lewis. They’re enjoyable and easy to understand for both intermediate and advanced English learners. And now an audio version of the Chronicles is available – free!
C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles
C.S. Lewis, an Oxford University professor, was one of the best writers of the 20th century. Though he wrote many serious works, he is probably best-known for The Chronicles of Narnia – seven books written for children but often read and enjoyed by adults!
The Chronicles tell the story of several children who crawl into a wardrobe (similar to a closet) and discover the door to another world, called Narnia. In Narnia, animals talk, magic is common, and good fights evil. The seven books tell the history of Narnia, from its creation to its destruction.
In addition to the books, some of The Chronicles are available in movie form and, now, in a free audio version.
Free audio version of The Chronicles
An audio version of The Chronicles is now available free on the Internet. The audio files were recently released by Ancient Faith Radio for online listening or downloading as mp3 files.
They are read by Chrissi Hart, a British author and psychologist who lives in the United States. Even though she has a light British accent, the stories are very easy to understand.
I strongly encourage English learners to listen to – and even download – all of the books. There are 101 episodes, or segments, each about 25 minutes long. That’s more than 40 hours of great English listening!
Some Suggestions
Some people disagree about which of the books should be read first. I believe that reading or listening to them in this order is best – and most interesting:
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Last Battle
Consider buying the books and reading the stories while you listen to them.
If you are a lower intermediate English learner, and the books or audio version are too difficult for you, see if you can find them in your language. If you read them first in your language, the English versions will be easier for you to understand.
See you in Narnia!
Warren Ediger
Hello,
This is a very, very interesting piece of news. I’m looking forward to reading and listen these books. In fact as you know I am now reading and listening Paul Bloom psychology course at Yale but I’m very interested in these kinds of books. In fact when I was young a read Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in Spanish and once came up in my country a saw the trilogy on the cinema (in Spanish and English). Nevertheless I suspect that read Lord of the Rings in English could be a very, very difficult thing. Even in Spanish is not easy because there are a lot of landscapes descriptions with very different and not common vocabulary.
In any case another challenge for me will be the British accent because I’m used to the American accent and could be an interesting thing to listen other accent.
Thank you very much Warren.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012!
Bye,
Andreu – Sometime you should try The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings in English. Since you read them in Spanish and saw the movie version in both Spanish and English, you have a lot of background knowledge that will help make the English understandable.
Building background knowledge in your first language before trying to read or listen to something in English is a very effective strategy.
The British accent in the Narnia collection is minimal. As you may know there are many American accents, not just one; hers is one of them since she lives in the U.S.
Season’s greetings to you, too!
Dear Warren,
Thank you very very much for this fine story. I feel that I am with 68 years transferred to the age of being eight years old again!
You are completly right that listening to the audio version enriches ones vocabulary. Normally I listen to academic podcasts in the field of political science, philosophy and other social studies.
Narnia fascinates because of its content which reflects the richness of the English language!
Wishing you fine holidays.
All the best.
Cheers.
Dear warren
Sometimes say “thank you” is not enough to tell how grateful we are .
Now I can say it is much better to listen while reading a story. you enjoy much more.
Really thank you for sharing it with us. Wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year.
Thank you Herman and Sara. And season’s greetings and best wishes for a happy new year to the entire Successful English family!
Warren
Hey Warren! What’s up? How was your Xmas? I hope ’twas great!
I totally agree with what my buddies wrote above. And I think there’re no words to describe our gratitude for what you’ve divinely done for us! But I just can’t omit mentioning that your articles, suggestions, and advice have turned my tired English learning into a pleasurable, enlightened English ACQUISITION! (You know what I mean.) They’ve really made a great difference! I’m happier and happier with my English… thanks to you, man!
Returning to Narnia, two years ago I was blessed when an American friend of mine gave me the first book of the series. And I loved it! But I must confess that while I was reading, I got the goose bumps from time to time (hehehe) ’cause I’m a little afraid of witches, and the author’s description of the Faun gave me the creeps as well… Man, it’s impressive how his words made me feel like I was a part of the story, you know what I mean? His explanations and descriptions are so clear that I LIVE the story, not just read it!
Besides reading the book, I watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian in Portuguese. I’ll do it in English very soon. Thanks to your intermediation, I’ll have the chance to listen to the whole collection, and that’s great!! (I’ll buy the other books as well.) Thanks again!
Well, I hope you have a blast and Happy New Year in advance!! God bless you and the whole Successful English family, also known as my family!! (hehehe)
Best regards!
David Monteiro Reis (Bahia – Brazil)
Thanks, David, and best wishes to you for a great new year!
It’s been a delight to watch your progress and the progress of others who send emails and comment on the articles. I get a lot of satisfaction from knowing that Successful English has been – okay, I’ll say it – successful!
Warren
You’re welcome, dear Warren! It’s MY pleasure to leave my humble comments on your page! Yes, certainly Successful English has been successfull okay! I’m very glad that you’ve realized some improvements on my English abilities. Thanks a lot for everything! I wish you all a great weekend!
Kind regards,
David Monteiro (Bahia – Brazil)
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