One sentence at a time
The player reads exactly one sentence, then waits for you. No rushing ahead while you are still thinking.
SENTENCE BY SENTENCE MODE
More time to think about each sentence
- Listen like you would read, at your own pace.
- Play or repeat each sentence individually.
- Get more time to think about each sentence.
THE PROBLEM
Complicated texts while driving
My goal was to listen to technical texts while driving in my car. But I realized that with complicated content, e.g. computer science papers, it was not a good listening experience.
MY FIRST IDEA
Car friendly text
My first attempt to solve this was simplifying the text: making it audio friendly and car friendly by re-forming the sentences so that they have a good flow and are easy to listen to. It works too, but often I just want the original text.
MY EXPERIENCE
Sentence mode on the steering wheel
I control it with the skip buttons on my steering wheel: back to repeat a sentence, forward to play the next one, and back twice to actually skip back.
I realized it gives me more time to think about every sentence, and listening becomes closer to how you read a real book: you read one sentence, you read it again if it was complicated, you have time to think about it, and you move on to the next sentence on your own.
OBSERVATION 1
Audiobooks leave you behind
On the road or in traffic, your attention can suddenly shift and you don't listen to the audio anymore. In a real audiobook you miss the boat in those cases, it just continues. But when you control the playback of each sentence, the audio pauses and you can listen to the last sentence again when your attention is back.
OBSERVATION 2
Stronger mental models and pictures
While I was listening to “Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt, I realized that I get stronger mental models and pictures when there is a pause after each sentence. I combined this with a reduced playback speed of 0.8x, to get the strongest effect (the TTS is a bit fast sometimes).
WHY IT WORKS
Reading pace, listening comfort
Repeat what was hard
Was the sentence complicated? Play it again. Just like your eyes jump back a line in a real book.
Time to think
Between sentences there is room for your own thoughts. That pause is where understanding happens.
Perfect in the car
The buttons on your steering wheel control everything: repeat, continue, pause. Eyes on the road, mind in the book.
TRY IT YOURSELF
Listen to your next book one sentence at a time.
Upload a document, switch to Sentence by Sentence Mode in the app, and take it with you on your next drive.
