Ebooks, or electronic books, are books which you can read on your computer and a variety of mobile devices. Hundreds of thousands of ebooks have been published in the last few years. Their format ranges from the most basic to highly sophisticated interactive multimedia publications with audio, video, text fields, full navigation and feedback.
Plain electronic books are just a modern version of books on paper. A great tool, but nothing like the ebooks I bring you in this article. Today we're going to find out what an interactive multimedia ebook offers you and, especially, we are going to see the features of a good language learning ebook.
Ebooks have revolutionized the way we study languages. They make learning fun, fast and inexpensive. So, what features does an interactive language learning ebook include? Here are their main five ones:
1. Multimedia ebooks bring the language to life by including audio and/or video. Whether you're learning verbs, listening to dialogs or practicing your pronunciation, multimedia ebooks allow you to hear the text said by native speakers by a simple click; and you can listen to it over and over. Good ebooks also give you the translation of all the new words and phrases in each lesson, so you never need to use a dictionary.
2. Multimedia electronic books come with listening and speaking drills and exercises to practice the real language. If you're learning verbs, for instance, you can practice saying and understanding the new forms; if you're learning vocabulary, you'll be able to practice all the new words you've come across. A good language ebook will also include a set drills at the end to help you review everything you've learned, as a whole.
3. Interactive electronic books give you the exercise and drill solutions. All you need to do is click a button. Good ebooks also let you save your personal scores, an essential feature for monitoring your learning progress.
4. Interactive ebooks have a navigation similar to that of a good website. They allow you to move quickly from one chapter to another, from drill to drill and from lesson to lesson. They also provide links to external resources such as contacting the author, free products, articles, etc.
5. To help you save time and keep everything tidy, good ebooks come with a section where you can type in notes and save them, so they're there next time you open it.
In short, interactive multimedia ebooks save you time, effort and money by being a self-contained learning tool. They take away the need for a dictionary, pad, additional books or recorded material.
You can boost your speaking and listening skills with electronic books more efficiently than with traditional courses. Good multimedia ebooks will also be of great help for improving your reading and writing skills.