Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Comic Zone Audio Now on Video: Fun Resource Materials for ESL students at UMAR Huatulco: Thor Journey into Mystery, Midnight Tales and Black Axe


Comic Zone audio now includes audio comics on Youtube.




Realizing how important it was for ESL students to extend their learning into authentic materials beyond the assigned grammar texts, the Comic Zone began years ago at UMAR Huatulco as a small library in my office for ESL students.    Over the years, bit by bit, a rather extensive collection has accumulated.  The dinosaur below guards the VIP collection for our most trusted members.  There is a lot more in that crowded office. 

.  
After the pandemic I decided to use the Google Classroom platform to post audio recordings of some of the comics in the collection for students to listen to as they read.  We were all so happy to return to in person classes but our new internet tools still had some advantages.   Hearing the words pronounced correctly is crucial.

We were still restricting access to teacher's offices on our first semester so a couple of crates were hauled down to the street in front of the Language Center during lunch breaks.


The first recordings were simply dramatic readings but my methods soon included mood music and sound effects.  This has slowed down productivity but the results have been worth it.

But then I began my sabbatical.  While, the Comic Zone is all locked up until my return, students can still access the mp3s on the Comic Zone Audio Google Classroom page. And welcome one and all.

 
 The collection still continues to grow.  This papier-mache box of classic Batman comics was recovered from my parent's basement on a recent visit to my hometown of Saint John, NB.   I might need a bigger office.   A few audio productions from this box have already begun.
 



So far we have Midnight Tales issue 8 from Charlton comics, recovered from the new-to-us box.  The Midnight Philosopher and Arachne visit a friend at an isolated lighthouse and help learn the truth about a beautiful mysterious castaway suffering from memory loss







The first three issues of  Marvel's Black Axe, from the early 90s, the very fringe of the Marvel Universe.


Black Axe battles HYDRA.



Black Axe battles the Hand in Japan.



Black Axe battles Mephisto.


The most recent additions are these early adventures of Thor from classic silver age Marvel.


Loki's first appearance!



Thor becomes a prisoner of communists!



Loki returns to terrorize Midgard for the second time.  This time, he's really mad.  Mad enough to release tigers and transform streets into candy.  Seriously.



That's the whole collection for now.    In the future, I hope to enlist students for the audio performances and editing when I return from sabbatical.  We can do multiple takes for pronunciation until we nail it right.  Great practise for ESL students and it would be so much nicer to hear a wider variety of voices.    






















 

No comments: