One voice for the whole book
Your ear tunes in to a single narrator over time. Keep the same voice for every chapter, and for the next book in the series.
For learners and language teachers
Language Learning Audiobooks for the Texts You Are Reading
Most graded readers you write, and most public domain stories, come without audio. Upload the text and make language learning audiobooks with a narrator from the voice library in your target language, a second voice for quoted dialogue, and one MP3 per chapter to play while you read along.
EPUB, PDF, DOCX, TXT or MD · up to 30 MB
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Find a narrator in your target language
The library covers 13 languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hindi, Russian, Arabic and Dutch. Filter by language and play a sample before you choose.
81 voices
How to make language learning audiobooks from your own texts
- 1
Pick a text
A graded story you or your tutor wrote, your teacher’s handouts, or a public domain book in the language you are learning. Upload EPUB, DOCX, text PDF, TXT or Markdown, or paste it in.
- 2
Mark the chapters
An EPUB’s contents list works in any language. For pasted text, put a Markdown heading such as “## Capítulo 2” or “# 第二章” above each chapter, since phrases like “Chapter 2” are matched in English only.
- 3
Choose the voices
Pick a narrator in the target language and a contrasting voice for dialogue. Preview a line first; the studio shows the credit estimate for each chapter before you generate.
- 4
Read and listen
Save the chapters as MP3s, or as one M4B with markers. Play each chapter while you follow the text, then once more without it.
Audiobooks for language learners, level by level
A common way to match text and listening to your level. Times assume about 155 words per minute; slower playback in your player stretches them.
| Level | Text to use | Chapter size | How to listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 to A2 | Short graded stories with simple dialogue | 300 to 800 words, about 2 to 5 minutes | Read first, then listen at reduced speed |
| B1 to B2 | Graded readers or simplified classics | 1,500 to 3,000 words, about 10 to 20 minutes | Listen while reading, then listen alone |
| C1 to C2 | Unabridged public domain novels | Full chapters | Listen first, check the text afterwards |
Have a word count but not a time? The words to minutes calculator converts it at any pace.
What graded readers with audio need from a narrator
Audiobooks for language learning have different needs from audiobooks you play for fun.
Dialogue that stands apart
Quoted speech can go to a different voice from the narration, so you hear where a conversation starts and ends.
Short, numbered chapters
Headings split a long text into short tracks you can replay on a commute, which suits daily practice better than one long file.
Fixes for one word
If a word comes out wrong, edit that line, for example by adding an accent mark or respelling a name, and regenerate only the line.
How dialogue works in texts that are not in English
Characters are identified from English dialogue tags such as said or asked inside quotation marks. In other languages, quoted speech is still split from the narration but goes to one shared “Other voices” role, so give that role a contrasting voice. Dialogue set with dashes or « » marks is read by the narrator; change it to quotation marks if you want a second voice. Script-style dialogues are the exception: write one line per speech, starting with the speaker’s name and a colon, such as “Pedro: ¿Dónde está la estación?”, and each speaker gets a voice of their own in any language, as long as the names use unaccented Latin letters.
M4B
The Velveteen Rabbit.m4b
6 chapters · 41 min · chapter markers
123456
- M4BOne file
- MP3Per chapter
- ZIPWhole project
Line 48 regenerated, the rest of chapter 3 kept as is
A language learning audiobook for every day of the week
Daily chapters of graded reader audiobooks are a habit most learners can keep. The MP3 export gives you a file per chapter, named after the chapter titles, plus a ZIP with a chapters index if you want everything at once.
The M4B export bundles the whole book with chapter markers, a title and a cover, and audiobook players remember where you stopped. Most of them also let you slow the speed down or skip back a few seconds, which is ideal for shadowing a sentence until it sticks.
Where to find texts to learn a language with audiobooks
Write your own graded stories. Many learners and tutors write short stories at the right level, around the vocabulary of the week. You own those texts, so you can make and share audio freely, and recycle the same characters and voices across a series.
Public domain books. Project Gutenberg and similar libraries hold thousands of books in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and other languages. They work well at upper levels; the public domain audiobook maker explains sources and cleanup. Check the public domain status in your country.
Published graded readers. Many already come with audio from the publisher, so look for that first. If yours does not, check the publisher’s terms before making audio of it, and keep anything you make for your own study rather than sharing it.
For teachers. A class set of short readers turns into language learning audiobooks in an afternoon. The classroom read aloud page covers lesson files and sharing with students.
What it costs. A 10,000 word graded reader in English is a little over an hour of audio, about 340 credits on Lite or 510 on Standard, so the Starter plan’s 400 monthly credits cover one on Lite. Character counts vary by language, so check the studio’s estimate. Sign up with Google and you get 100 gift credits (valid for 7 days, about 12 minutes on Standard; usage varies by text and voice tier) to try a short sample in the AI audiobook generator.
Language learning audiobooks FAQ
Which languages can I make language learning audiobooks in?
The voice library covers 13 languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hindi, Russian, Arabic and Dutch. English is the most polished, so listen to a sample in your target language before generating a long book.
Can I slow the audio down for a beginner?
Narration runs at about 150 to 160 words per minute. Most audiobook and media players have a speed setting, so you can drop to 0.75x or lower. On the Standard, Lite and Expressive models, a [slowly and clearly] direction at the start of a line also asks for a gentler read.
Can I add audio to a graded reader I bought?
Check whether the publisher already offers audio, and read their terms. Making audio of a copyrighted book is something the rights holder controls. If it is allowed for personal use, keep the files for your own study and do not share them.
Why do all the characters in my Spanish story share one voice?
In prose, speakers are identified from English dialogue tags, so quoted lines in other languages go to a single “Other voices” role. Give that role a voice that contrasts with the narrator. For a voice per character, write the dialogue as a script, one line per speech, such as “Pedro: Hola, ¿qué tal?”
Do Chinese or Japanese chapter headings split the text?
In an EPUB, yes, because chapters come from the table of contents. In pasted text, add a Markdown heading such as “# 第一章” above each chapter, and each one becomes its own track. Headings like “Chapter 1” are only recognized in English.
Give your next reader a voice
Upload a text and try language learning audiobooks free for a short sample, no card needed.