Audiobooks

Better or worse could be argued, but they are not the same. I would have to find the source, but reading has a different retention process and neural response in the brain. When you read, you live the experience as your brain creates the characters/imagery/emotions/voices… etc. You are creating more of the story in your head. You also get better at reading as you do it more, not quite the same skill training as listening.

yes, they have listened to those books

Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or poetry. The information is mentally recorded by oral repositories, sometimes termed "walking libraries", who are usually also performers. Oral tradition is a medium of communication for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system, or in parallel to a writing system. It is the most widespread medium of human communication. They often remain in use in the modern era throughout for cultural preservation.