Learn English by Reading Graphic Novels and Comic Books

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I'm a little late starting the topic of the week this week because, as many of you know, I live in Vietnam and Monday and Tuesday were holidays here. So, I got a little behind in my posts. 

Anyway, Last week's topic about How to Learn English and this week's topic about Reading Graphic Novels and Comic Books go hand in hand.  Hand in hand is an American idiom that means 2 things that go together well.  In this case, learning English and reading Graphic Novels and comic books go together well. 


Reading in general can help you learn English because you learn vocabulary and grammar.  Unlike spoken English,  that disappears after it is said, written words remain on the page so you can look at each sentence or word again and again.
 
Graphic novels and comic books, in particular, are good for learning English because they are full of pictures.  The pictures give you another clue to what is happening in the story.  This can help you figure out the words that you don't know.  

The pictures also help you learn English because it builds pictures in your mind connected to the English words.  This will help you understand English more quickly and easily because you are not translating each word into your native language first. Instead you are building pictures of the concepts in your mind and then connecting the concept with the appropriate English words. 

Graphic novels and comic books, also, use dialogue to tell the story.   Therefore, you see people talking to each other in the way that people talk to each other.  And afterall, that is what we want to do in English. Right?  We want to talk to other people.  

And the last benefit is that graphic novels and comic books are fun to read.  And as I always say, if it's fun you will keep doing it!

But what about the down side, What are the negatives to reading graphic novels and comic books?

The obvious one is - because it's written you are not learning pronunciation.  So, you might learn some new words and have no idea how to say them. 

Also, Many graphic novels such as Manga and Anime, were written in Japan.  If you are reading it in English, it is a translation.  And translations don't always come out exactly right.  It all depends on the skill of the translator and whether there are comparable phrases in English.  There might be some cultural things that make sense in Japanese but we don't have any idea what they are talking about in the US. So, these types of things are tricky to translate and it can cause the English to be less than perfect.

Another problem is graphic novels and comic books are about crazy characters, evil villians, and super heros.  They take place in imaginary places or different planets and they use alot of made up technology and objects.  So, you might be learning alot of made up words that are useless in the real world.    Or for example, I like to read a Manga detective series called Case Closed to help me learn Vietnamese. I'm learning a lot of vocabulary about crimes and murders but this doesn't exactly help me buy mangos at the local market. 

But I enjoy reading it so, I keep reading and that's the main point.  I have some text books that I never open because they are boring but everyday I spend a few minutes reading Case Closed in Vietnamese.  So, which is helping me more? Obviously it's the one I actually use. 

So, why don't you try reading a Graphic Novel or Comic book in English today. 

Thanks for listening this has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com