Comics/Graphic novels as a way of learning real language

[iguanamon]

First, welcome to the forum! What language are you studying/do you speak besides English?

I've read most of The Walking Dead series in Portuguese. Maus and Persepolis were two of my favorite translated graphic novels in Portuguese. I've enjoyed the works of Andrés Palomino and Àlex Roca in Spanish. I used to think comics weren't serious enough for language-learning. I was wrong Member emk was the one who inspired me to use comic books in my learning by his example with French. I think they're a good, fun way to get exposure to colloquial language and the visual clues help.They're almost like films in written form. Nowadays, I just read them for enjoyment.

Of course, like everything else in self language-learning they are best used as a part of a learner's interaction with native materials. Novels, non-fiction, TV series and podcasts all are useful, especially in combination when using native material.

[Chung]

Count me as a fan for the reasons given by iguanamon, although I prefer comic strips or treasuries of such rather than graphic novels. The brevity of strips and satirical cartoons seems to enforce more discipline on the writer to get to the point/punchline. Besides, plenty of people like black humor or a joke at some politician's/celebrity's expense.

With a bit of trawling, I can find satirical cartoons, syndicated strips (translated or in original) in my target languages.

[zenmonkey]

The French language has a very strong culture in graphic novels and I'm a big fan of reading a variety of them translated to other languages. My daughters and I must have 3-4 dozen standards in anything from Breton to Portuguese. I do happen to like L'Incal (in French) quite a bit and anything by Schuitten.

[Brun Ugle]

I enjoyed reading Donald Duck when learning Norwegian. I especially love the old stories written by Carl Barks. He was a brilliant artist and writer and rereading his comics in Norwegian took me back to my childhood. I bought a few digests of Donald Duck in Germany last year and I have a few in Finnish waiting for me too. Of course, the modern stories mostly can't hold a candle to the old ones by Carl Barks, but they're still fun.

[zenmonkey]

For the German speakers, Kack & Sachgeschichten podcast #046 is called Asterix und das Crack-Baby it's worth discovering ...

[Stelle]

I've read a few issues of The Walking Dead in Spanish. I definitely learned a few expressions - specifically, "maldita sea" and "sip", both of which jumped out at me every time I read them.

I haven't read a ton of graphic novels in English, but there are a few that I enjoyed a lot: The Walking Dead, both Buffy and Angel (mainly because I wanted to know what happened after the shows ended), Watchmen, Maus, Persepolis. Maus and Persepolis were really, really good - highly recommended. I imagine that they'd translate well. I've also read several science fiction graphic novels whose names I've forgotten.

I would love to find a science fiction graphic novel originally written in Spanish or in Italian. Hmmm...something to look for! I've honestly never looked into it. Thanks for the inspiration!

[reineke]

I've read a few issues of The Walking Dead in Spanish. I definitely learned a few expressions - specifically, "maldita sea" and "sip", both of which jumped out at me every time I read them.

I haven't read a ton of graphic novels in English, but there are a few that I enjoyed a lot: The Walking Dead, both Buffy and Angel (mainly because I wanted to know what happened after the shows ended), Watchmen, Maus, Persepolis. Maus and Persepolis were really, really good - highly recommended. I imagine that they'd translate well. I've also read several science fiction graphic novels whose names I've forgotten.

I would love to find a science fiction graphic novel originally written in Spanish or in Italian. Hmmm...something to look for! I've honestly never looked into it.!

Look up Totem comics in Spanish and Dylan Dog in Italian.

Dylan Dog audio comic:

http://www.fumetti.rai.it/dl/portali/si ... d76cf.html

[Easily_confused]

I'm reading Tintin- I've got 3 in German (and 1 in Chinese). My friend sent me a colour photocopy of an edition of Aberfaxe (?) but being a beginner, they're both a bit tricky for leisure reading so I've started doing my next intensive reading block with "Geheimnis der Einhorn".

How difficult is the language in the Walking Dead books?

Also, are there any good German-origin comic books/graphic novels? I don't really care if something's translated or not but it'd be nice to have something that's culturally German/Austrian/Swiss.

[jeff_lindqvist]

The most recent graphic novels I read were a couple of Tintin and Asterix albums in Irish. I really liked the Suske en Wiske albums (Finn och Fiffi in Swedish) when I was a kid. I wonder how many languages they are available in. Apparently the series is still being published in Belgium (270 albums so far!).

[reineke]

I'm reading Tintin- I've got 3 in German (and 1 in Chinese). My friend sent me a colour photocopy of an edition of Aberfaxe (?) but being a beginner, they're both a bit tricky for leisure reading so I've started doing my next intensive reading block with "Geheimnis der Einhorn".

How difficult is the language in the Walking Dead books?

Also, are there any good German-origin comic books/graphic novels? I don't really care if something's translated or not but it'd be nice to have something that's culturally German/Austrian/Swiss.

Werner.