English reading exercise aimed at helping you acquire more English vocabulary.

1. Comprehension by using Comics
Key Terms…
as many times as: tantas vezes
quanto
↲
language skills: competências
linguísticas
as strong as my jaw muscles:
tão forte quanto meus músculos da
mandíbula
↲ slices: fatias
acquisition pie: torta de
“aquisição”
↲ missing wedge: fatia faltando
you guessed it: você adivinhou
though I suspect: embora eu
suspeite que…
↲
a must: uma obrigação
↲ While: Embora, Apesar de
many purposes: muitas
finalidades, propósitos
↲
exposing gaps in your
vocabulary: revelando as falhas
no seu vocabulário
↲
Comprehension Through Comics
The best way to learn a foreign language is to speak
it. How many times have you heard that one? If it’s
as many times as I have then you’re probably
wondering, “Why aren’t my language skills
getting as strong as my jaw muscles from all
this talking?” That’s because talking and listening
are only two slices of the language acquisition
pie, the missing wedge of that pie is—you
guessed it—reading. These days it’s difficult to get
most people motivated to read anything longer
than a tweet (though I suspect if you are reading
this blog post, you probably don’t have that
problem), but if you’re learning a language, reading
is a must.
While speaking practice does serve many
purposes, motivation, fluency, and exposing
gaps in your vocabulary and grammar skills,

2. approaching: abordar, tratar
conversation – over – literacy:
(attitude que trata conversa melhor
do que habilidade de ler)
tires: pneus
you’ll get nowhere fast: você
não vai conseguir nada rápido
dynamo: dínamo; boa combinação
gift: presente; dom
Through: Através de
↲ crack open: abrir
↲ in the name of: a fim de
presents itself: se apresenta
comics: história em quadrinhos
Holy bound books , Batman:
Santos livros encadernados, Batman
(Estilo de Robin falar com o
Batman: “Holy …, Batman”)
You mean: Quer dizer que…
stand – alone: standalone
(independente e separado)
told through sequential art:
contada através de arte sequencial
aid: ajudar; auxiliar
a middle step: uma etapa
intermediária
approaching your studies with a conversation-over-
literacy attitude is like trying to drive a car
with no tires: you’ll get nowhere fast. The
truth is, speaking and reading have a symbiotic
relationship that results in you becoming a language
dynamo. When you speak in a foreign language,
you give yourself the gift of fluency. When you
read in a foreign language, you give yourself
something in which to be fluent. Through reading,
you can learn new words and grammar structures
that you can use to better express your thoughts
vocally.
Once you decide to crack open a book in the
name of language acquisition, a new problem
presents itself: what to read? I have a few
suggestions, but the one we’ll talk about today is
comics.
Holy bound books, Batman! You mean
comics can help me gain language skills? Indeed I
do. Either in their periodical format as comic books,
or in the form of stand-alone graphic novels,
reading stories told through sequential art can
aid comprehension and give students who may not
be ready to read a text novel a middle step with
which to gain confidence and a sense of

3. accomplishment: ↲ realização
setting: cenário
anyway: de qualquer maneira
plot: enredo
No better way to learn: Não há
melhor maneira de aprender
stimulating: estimulate
rather than: em vez de
dry dialog: diálogo seco/chato
stating that: dizer que
valuable: valioso
can net you: pode render-lhe;
pode te ajudar em pegar
↲
↲ clues: dicas; pistas
meanings: significados
↲ parroted back: repetidas de volta
↲ Whereas: Enquanto…
pictorial: pictórico
↲ taking place: ocorrendo
unknown: desconhecido
educated guess: um bom palpite
(tentar adivinhar com a maior
preisão possível)
↲
↲ driving forces: forças motrizes
So get out there: Então, saia
daqui e… (começar fazer algo)
↲
accomplishment.
How can comics and graphic novels help me learn a
language if there’s minimal text to be read? I’m
glad you asked. Because the text is so limited,
there’s less descriptions of setting—we don’t really
need this with comics anyway since we can see
what’s going on—and the the focus gets put on plot
and dialog. No better way to learn grammar
structures than to read something that consists of
mainly dialog, and there’s no better way to stay
interested in that dialog than if it’s about something
you find stimulating rather than the usual, dry
dialog found in language texts.
People often say a picture is worth a thousand
words; it’s worth stating that illustrations are
also pretty valuable and can net you a few
comprehension clues. True language acquisition
happens when words are connected to meanings
and not just parroted back to the teacher. Comics
help with this. Whereas with an all-text novel a
student may consult a dictionary more often than
they’d like, a pictorial representation of the scene
taking place may make the reader feel more
comfortable inferring the meaning of an unknown
word. When that educated guess is confirmed as
comprehension, the reader gains motivation and
confidence which, let’s be honest here, are driving
forces to language learning success. So get out
there and find a comic or graphic novel you like in
a language you love and start reading!

4. reader: leitor
Are you already a reader of comics? If so, which is
your favorite? If not, why not?
Read More Here…
as many times as tantas vezes quanto
Também é possível executar este programa quantas vezes o usuário
desejar. ↔
You can also execute this program as many times as you like.
slices fatias
Cut the pie into slices. ↔
Corte a torta em pedaços.
He cut off a slice of meat. ↔
Ele cortou uma fatia de carne.
missing wedge fatia faltando
↔
wedge
though I suspect embora eu suspeite que…
I’ll be back, though I suspect it’s going to be increasingly hard to get a
table.
Whether Delia is happy about all this remains a mystery, though I suspect
not.
While Embora, Apesar de
While I understand what you say, I can’t agree with you. ↔
Apesar de entender o que você quer dizer, não concordo com você.
↱
↱
↱
↱
↱

5. many purposes muitas finalidades, propósitos
A brincadeira serve vários objectives: relaxamento, aprendizagem e
exercício. ↔
Play serves many purposes: it is relaxation, learning and exercise all
bundled into one.
O gás natural tem-se tornado um combustível cada vez mais atractivo para
diversas utilizações. ↔
Natural gas is becoming an increasingly attractive fuel for many
purposes.
exposing gaps in your vocabulary revelando as falhas no seu vocabulário
He wants to expose his students to great works of literature.
The workers were exposed to dangerous chemicals. [they were placed in
conditions that left them unprotected from dangerous chemicals]
crack open abrir
It’s also common to say “crack open” a beer, due to the “crack” noise that happens
when a beer of soft drink is opened.
in the name of a fim de
It’s about suppressing personal desires in the name of God and the greater
good.
Keep in mind how easily people give up freedom in the name of national
security.
accomplishment realização
They accomplished their mission. ↔
Cumpriram sua missão.
↱
↱
↱
↱
↱

6. His accomplishments should be written in large letters. ↔
As conquistas deles deveriam ser escritas em letras grandes.
Em conclusão, gostaria de felicitar o relator pelo trabalho que realizou. ↔
In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur for this
accomplishment.
Espaço que possibilita a realização de reuniões científicas e de grupos de
actividade. ↔
This space makes possible the accomplishment of scientific meetings of
groups of activity.
can net you pode render-lhe; pode te ajudar em pegar
If you’ve got $50 on this wager, a hit can net you some serious dough. ↔
Se você tem US $ 50 em esta aposta, um hit pode render-lhe muito
dinheiro.
A frank, calm demeanor can net you great love results. ↔
A franco, comportamento calmo pode render excelentes resultados de
amor.
clues dicas; pistas
Tenho muitas pistas, tudo bem, nada contundente. ↔
I have many clues, but yeah, nothing overwhelming (scathing, incisive).
dá ao jogador muitas pistas para resolver o mistério ↔
gives the player plenty of clues to solve the mystery
tentaremos encontrar qualquer pista, por mais ínfima que seja ↔
we’ll look for any clue, however insignificant it may be
We have no clue where he is. ↔
Não temos ideia de onde ele esteja.
parroted back repetidas de volta
She rarely answered a question but just parroted back talking points she
had memorized.
Whereas Enquanto…
She loves classical music, whereas I prefer jazz. ↔
Ela adora música clássica, enquanto eu prefiro jazz.
↱
↱
↱
↱
↱

7. taking place ocorrendo
Where did the accident take place? ↔
Onde ocorreu o acidente?
The story takes place in Lisbon. ↔
A estória passa-se em Lisboa.
The newspaper always keeps us informed of the events taking place in the
world. ↔
O jornal nos informa sempre sobre os eventos que acontecem no mundo.
educated guess
um bom palpite (tentar adivinhar com a maior
preisão possível)
A expectativa é de que cerca de 25 mil torcedores ingleses viajem à África
do Sul”, disse Miles. ↔
An educated guess is that 25,000 fans will travel (from England).
Não há garantias que foi de onde o erro aconteceu, porém é um bom
palpite. ↔
There is no guarantee that that is where the error was, but it is a good
educated guess.
Temos de fazer hipóteses racionais e algumas vezes conseguimos adivinhar
e outras não. ↔
We have to make educated guesses, and sometimes we guess right,
sometimes wrong.
driving forces forças motrizes
A promoção da “qualidade” constitui a principal força motriz de toda a
agenda. ↔
The promotion of ‘quality’ is a major driving force behind this agenda.
Os comércios de proximidade e o pequeno comércio constituem o motor da
nossa economia. ↔
Local businesses and small businesses are the driving force behind our
economy.
A inovação é agora largamente entendida como sendo a força motriz do
crescimento económico. ↔
Innovation is now widely understood to be the driving force in economic
growth.
So get out there Então, saia daqui e… (começar fazer algo)
↱
↱
↱
↱

8. Bem… era preciso sair dali. ↔
Well… I should get out there.
E isso quer dizer que você terá que começar a fazer algumas coisas que vão
lhe deixar muito nervoso. ↔
And that means you’re going to have to get out there and start doing
some things that will make you very nervous.