Heya guys...i just wanna know on what you think about comic comprehension...i got some messages from people that they don't like to continue reading my comic due to grammar issues. So i ask you, does it really bother you if the comic grammar isn't you can say decent english?

Oh and english is my 3rd language so my english isn't really that good =

Pyren
Heya guys...i just wanna know on what you think about comic comprehension...i got some messages from people that they don't like to continue reading my comic due to grammar issues. So i ask you, does it really bother you if the comic grammar isn't you can say decent english?

Oh and english is my 3rd language so my english isn't really that good =It depends. Sometimes a character speaks a certain way and the words/expressions he uses aren't supposed to be grammatically correct. That's fine. In fact, as long as it's still intelligible and not over-done, that's good. It's part of the characterisation.

If it's apparent that the creator has a poor command of English, however, then it can be annoying. I tend to be more forgiving if, as in your case, it's clear that English isn't the creator's native tongue. If the creator is British/American/Australian etc and the English is poor, then it annoys me much more. In an age of spell-checkers and even grammar-checkers, there should be no excuse for anything other than a very, very occasional slip-up - especially from people who claim they want to be writers!

I know this sounds terrible, and a lot of people probably wont say this for that reason, but I would say that yes, it would annoy me if a comic had poor English.
Basically there are a lot of web comics out there, so if I find one where the grammar is poor I am not going to take the time to consider if the author speaks English as a first language etc. I am just going to go and read something else.
I know its not what you'll want to here, but I think its better to be honest about it. Comics communicate with two things, words and pictures, if the words are poor that is half the medium wasted just there.

Grammar and spelling issues 'jolt' your reader out of the story, which is very bad for any entertainment medium.

I know grammar can be difficult to learn, but here's some things to do;
Read it out loud. No really use your own voice, it notices snags paper deceives you into.
Mimic real life. Have your characters speech be realistic by listening to real people. Most people don't talk all pretentious or really, really southern(unless your char is parody) so listen to how people's speech.
Spell check. Use an online or installed checker, it's not gnna hurt ya ;)

I agree with Hark, for the most part. Dialogue is one of the most important things to me, as a reader and as a writer. It's hard for me to get into a comic if it doesn't have a natural flow of speech, or if all the characters tend to talk exactly the same, etc. That said, I think fractured English (so long as it's still intelligible) can be charming sometimes; so long as the content keeps me interested.

I read a few pages of your comic and the grammar isn't that bad; I've certainly read comics with worse, both by native and non-native speakers. If you're worried about it, find someone to proofread for you.

Edit to say: There is no excuse for frequent bad spelling, though! A word here or there is natural; but not every frickin' page! Now that will make me stop reading a comic. (I didn't notice if you did this or not- more of a generalized rant, here. ;) )

i hate english , so the more you butcher it the happier i am

Mm. It probably would annoy me after a while. Maybe not so much to the point where I couldn't riddle out what's being said, but it would be an issue of immersion. If sentences repeatedly (even if unintentional) become stumbling blocks, I probably wouldn't want to read for too long.

That said, for your third language, you're not that bad.

Pyren
Heya guys...i just wanna know on what you think about comic comprehension...i got some messages from people that they don't like to continue reading my comic due to grammar issues. So i ask you, does it really bother you if the comic grammar isn't you can say decent english?

Oh and english is my 3rd language so my english isn't really that good =

DEFINITELY. No offense-- I haven't read your comic (yet!!) but you know, if you want you can send me the text(or script) of it via PM or something, and I'll look through it for you. Or your script or something. I am an English major, for what it's worth.

There's a number of comics I haven't featured specifically because the English was bad. Half of a comic (a comic with words anyway) is the text- if that text is hard to understand, it takes you out of the story. You also set up an assumption that because you can't use the words properly, you won't be able to tell a story. And many people won't want to read a poorly translated comic long enough to find out whether the storytelling is any good.

In this day and age it's easy enough to find a proofreader- lots of people would be happy to double-check pages for you before they're posted publicly and tidy them up. If a person is going to publish a comic in a language, the professional thing to do is make sure to get the language right. Some people care more about being professional than others, though.

unless ya have a very art heavy comic that doesnt involve a lot of speech then yeah, it IS really important to be able to convey English well, at least to an English speaking audience. How else can people follow your story?

i can respect that most of the comic market speaks English and having to learn a whole new language becuase of it can be horrifying and i really do wish you well in getting a very good grasp on it. but until you can get the laguage to where you want it,maby you can find someone to help you translate your comic.

A spell checker could help out too, but that's not the whole nine yards. it's just as important, if not more to know how the sentances are supposed to flow. and then, like Skulbie said, listen to how people talk. it can teach you a LOT, especially in conveying a character's personality or emotion. There are actually ways to misspell words to get a certain voice across, but the ironic thing is you gotta know the rules before you can break em.

i'm not trying to come down on you, i imagine it's gotta be very hard, and i hope that it doesnt turn you off of doing this. but that's just the reality.

I'm an English teacher in real life. I'm a stickler for grammar and spelling. I'm gonna be frank here - the way I see it, as a writer, language is your medium, and if you can't use its basic functions properly, you're like a painter who holds a brush backwards.

English isn't my first language either, and I debated for a long time whether or not it was a smart idea for me to attempt artistic writing in English.

grammar in comics has always been a mixed bag to me...I mean, obvious errors are obvious errors and should be fixed. but looking back at the old stan lee kirby stuff, stan would write big words correctly and then spell through as "thru" and other slang of the time...so it depends.

I think I have a fairly good grasp on the English language.

Yet I'm still always paranoid that I'm going to have some grammatical error that someone will point out.

I don't have an editor, so I have to rely on Microsoft Word's Spell and Grammar checker. It's sad.

zaymac
I think I have a fairly good grasp on the English language.

Yet I'm still always paranoid that I'm going to have some grammatical error that someone will point out.

I don't have an editor, so I have to rely on Microsoft Word's Spell and Grammar checker. It's sad.

Ha. I feel ya. I don't worry about the grammar so much, but the spelling! Oh, the spelling. OpenOffice checks it when I'm typin' up the script, but since sometimes I revise it hand, I check every word with more than like, 6 letters with the good ol' dictionary. Thank God most of my characters have a limited vocabulary. x_X

I encountered the same problem.

Back in around 2002-2003, my early comics had issues with regards to lame dialog. It was because English was my 2nd language. My brain thinks in Tagalog, therefore the tendency is to LITERALLY translate Tagalog into English and it sometimes sounds lame if directly translated. Especially things like jokes and expressions.

A way to get around it?

Learn how to THINK in English. Eventually as you get better at it, you will have this sort of inner switch inside your brain that you can turn on and off whenever you wanna switch language.

I'm usually really good at spellchecking my work. And I'll go back and change the dialogue even if I spot the typo months down the road.

As for grammar, how my characters talk is basically how I talk, for the most part. Which means you'll get the occasional "y'all" or an "-in'" suffix instead of "-ing". If some of my readers find that grating, well... hasta la vista baby. Cassie may be a supersmart genius, but she's still a Texas party girl at heart, so she's not gonna concern herself with proper English.

I find it amusing that some people still think my comic should be called "Times Like These"... when in reality, either way is gramatically correct based on the context.

kyupol
I encountered the same problem.

Back in around 2002-2003, my early comics had issues with regards to lame dialog. It was because English was my 2nd language. My brain thinks in Tagalog, therefore the tendency is to LITERALLY translate Tagalog into English and it sometimes sounds lame if directly translated. Especially things like jokes and expressions.

A way to get around it?

Learn how to THINK in English. Eventually as you get better at it, you will have this sort of inner switch inside your brain that you can turn on and off whenever you wanna switch language.

oh so ur a filipino...kabayan! =D

and yea i will try to improve my english...just needs time and practice i think

I had a lot of trouble with this when I started off, of course my excuse was just laziness, I just had to make sure I was doing things right, re-read it and think if it all makes sense.
Ask your readers to point out errors, that way you can fix them up and learn from your mistakes.

english is my second language so obviously I still make grammar mistakes, but overall I try to pay attention to it. And bad grammar in other people's comics can be annoying, assuming I can pick it up that is.

What tears me out of the story each time I see them are the following spelling/grammar mistakes.

Your/You're, there/they're/their, etc.

Oh, and "internet lingo" (especially shoved in the middle of an fantasy story, urgh).

Anyway, I did learn my lesson and for the print edition of Din Krakatau I sent the pages to a friend for proofreading (and hopefully fixed everything he pointed out).

Aurora Borealis
Oh, and "internet lingo" (especially shoved in the middle of an fantasy story, urgh).

Net slang is one of my biggest pet peeves in ANY type of writing, but especially used in the comic format, so I agree wholeheartedly with you on this.

I can't believe it's permeated MY sensibilities so much that a strip I did once, instead of wanting to write out "Ha, Ha, Ha!" to showcase laughter, I actually had the "LOL!" come to mind first.

Honestly, I've read your comic. There's nothing really wrong with the English. It's fine. It's not Shakespeare, but it's not glaringly horrible. It's written better than a few native speakers I know. But yeah, lose the lolspeak. It's NOT realistic, and it just sounds dumb and wrecks any immersion the reader had in the story, and for next few pages, you get an "Author on Board" effect, where it stops being a "story" and becomes "photoshop with text", which makes it significantly less fun to read.

Naughtelos
It's written better than a few native speakers I know. But yeah, lose the lolspeak. It's NOT realistic, and it just sounds dumb and wrecks any immersion the reader had in the story, and for next few pages, you get an "Author on Board" effect, where it stops being a "story" and becomes "photoshop with text", which makes it significantly less fun to read.

oh really? hmm...which pages did i do the lolspeak things?

oh and i seem to remember when i read ur comic too, i saw some lolspeak things o_Oa

Pyren
oh really? hmm...which pages did i do the lolspeak things?

oh and i seem to remember when i read ur comic too, i saw some lolspeak things o_Oa

In retrospect, I don't really think you did use 'em. I just saw the post and felt like getting all self-righteous :). Don't start, then. And yeah, I did, After I realized how lame they made the comic look, I thankfully grew out of it.

mE eNGLISH AM VERY GoOd for thuh mosT part I think.