Learning English With Comics And Graphic Novels

Pictures can often help you understand what you are listening to or reading. One good way to improve your everyday English is to read stories with pictures, such as comic books and graphic novels. (Graphic novels are longer books, often for adults, which have pictures and words like a comic book.) Comic books and graphic novels are not just for children, and they are not “too easy” for many intermediate students. They can be excellent ways to pick up new vocabulary in
a fun and interesting way. Some can be very interesting and contain difficult vocabulary as well.

Comic books are often written at a low reading level, with simpler vocabulary. For beginning and intermediate students, comics such as Archie, Tom and Jerry, and Bugs Bunny are good places to start. They are written at a low reading level but still contain a lot of useful daily vocabulary. If you are more advanced, you may want to try comics such as Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman, all of which are written at a higher level but are still easy to understand because of the pictures and drawings. There are also many translated Japanese anime graphic novels in English that are written more for adults. Many of these have science
fiction themes that adults can enjoy.

Use Speaking Exchange Technique To Improve Your Spoken English

One good way to improve your English is to use a conversation or language partner. A language partner is someone who is trying to learn your native or first language, and who speaks the language that you want to learn or improve. When you have a language partner, you both speak one language for a certain amount of time (for example, 15 minutes), then the same amount of time in the other language. Each person “exchanges” or gives to the other person something that they want. (To exchange means to give something to someone and to receive something in return.)

Language partners work best for those who are intermediate or advanced speakers. You may find a language partner to talk to in your own city, or you may find them on the Internet (see the list of websites below to find language partners). Language partners give you a chance to speak the language, which will give you confidence. Here are some suggestions for using language
partners:

• If possible, record your conversation so you can listen to it again later. (If you are speaking to someone over the Internet, you need first to ask their permission to record your conversation.)
• Ask the person you are speaking with to speak slowly and repeat things you don’t understand. Remember that listening is still the best way to get better at understanding English, so ask the person who speaks English with you to talk about topics you are interested in while you listen.
• Have a list of topics you are both interested in talking about. Ask your partner to talk about what they did that day, what their favorite movies are, what they enjoy to read, what is happening in the news – anything that you find interesting.
• Don’t worry too much about correcting your partner’s mistakes when they speak your language. Correcting people’s mistakes while they are speaking can actually make them speak worse, because it often causes the person to lose their confidence in speaking. The most important thing is to listen and to speak in a normal conversation, and not be too concerned about errors.
  

Some Places to Find Language Partners on the Internet:

• http://www.babelpod.com
• http://www.xlingo.com
• http://www.mylanguageexchange.com
• http://www.lingozone.com/
• http://community.jyve.com/ (Part of Skype)

Be an Actor and Learn Language Fast

To be a good language learner, it helps to think of yourself as an actor. A British writer, Julian Symons, wrote that an actor is someone “who is not embarrassed and awkward on the stage, but finds it the easiest thing in the world to speak words that are not his own.” (1990. Dearth’s Darkest Face. New York: Penguin.)

When you’re speaking English, it may sometimes feel like the words are strange and you don’t feel comfortable saying them. When I say being an actor is helpful, I don’t mean that you really should become an actor. I mean that you should think like one. When you speak English, try to see yourself in the new “role” – the new person you are trying to be. This person is a good English speaker, someone who feels confident and comfortable speaking the language. Over time, you will become more and more like this person and it will become more natural to be in this role. This confidence will help you learn more English and to speak it with more ease.