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. 

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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.

https://classroom.google.com/c/NDM2MTgwNTc1ODM0?cjc=qz36eou

 

 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

Midnight Tales 8:  Amnesia Part 1: The Kilgore Monster

Midnight Tales 8: Amnesia Part 2:  No Witnesses

Midnight Tales 8 Amnesia Part 3  The Pearl

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

Black Axe 1: The Immortality Gambit

Black Axe battles HYDRA.

Black Axe 2: Spirit of the Sword 

Black Axe battles the Hand in Japan.

Black Axe 3: Last Temptation of Black Axe

Black Axe battles Mephisto.

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

Journey into Mystery 85  Trapped by Loki, the God of Mischief

Loki's first appearance!

Journey into Mystery 87  Prisoner of the Reds 

Thor becomes a prisoner of communists!

Journey into Mystery 88  Vengeance of Loki

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.    

 

We Have a Winner! Final Meeting Point 2019

Students and teachers gathered for one final Meeting point last Monday, on the night before Umarela, to share some coffee, cookies and conversation and to see which lucky student would take home a new Mercurio bicycle.

It's still early here.  At this point, it could be anyone in the room. 

The moment of truth finally arrived.  It's Adamaris Escobar!  Congratulations.

A few more students walked home with smaller prizes. 

And everyone in the room has made further progress in mastering their second language and that's the best prize of all.

To my right is Isaac, the man who really makes The Meeting Point roll.  Most of these pictures were taken by him.  If you don't see him in many pictures, it's because he's the one on the other side of the camera.  It was after dark when we finished so Isaac strapped the bicycle to the roof of his Volkswagon and made sure our winner made it home safely.



Ride safely, Adamaris.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

The Meeting Point 2019 UMAR Huatulco

(Original logo courtesy of Mario Alberto Gomez)

Almost three semesters have passed since The Meeting Point began here at UMAR Huatulco.  Every Monday, without fail, teachers and students have been gathering at The Tourism Laboratory for an hour of conversation in English over coffee and cookies. 

Christmas has been sneaking up on us and December 16th will be our final gathering for the entire decade.  Here's an overdue collection of photos of the people who continue to make The Meeting Point happen from the beginning to the present day.

People make the most interesting photos but eyes squint and blink.  A fraction of a second can make a regrettable image.  As I looked through my Meeting Point folder, I expected I would have to delete every third pic but that wasn't the case.  If there were any bad photos, they must have been deleted a long time ago.  

The man on the right is Isaac Flores.  He's the guy that makes all of this happen.  None of this would work half as well without him.  He's also our principal photographer and that's why he himself is in so few of his own shots.  In fact, 90% of these pictures are his.  Thanks again, Isaac.
   

Yummy! It's fun getting older.