Storytelling has been important to human beings for thousands of years. Even before the invention of writing, the stories were drawn on the rocks and told by the campfire. Storytelling, in one form or another, can be found on every continent and is enjoyed by children and adults alike. We tell stories about things we love and things we are afraid of, things we know very well and things we have just discovered, and by doing so we make sense of our world.
Stories can be told in many ways, some people like writing novels, others make films or act the stories on stage, others yet – draw comics. Drawing comics can be a combination of everything: you can draw, paint, cut out pictures and words from newspapers and you can write whatever you want. Better yet, you can use any language and any tool you have at hand!
Monika Szydłowska, an artist from Poland, moved to Scotland with just a set of watercolour paint and pencils and created a story about her new life in Scotland. There were many things she found funny or strange in her new life and she documented them. She drew people she met or others she saw on the street and wrote down conversations she heard around her. She used many languages in her comic (and sometimes no languages at all!).
Activities we propose below are inspired by Szydłowska’s work and allow children to create their own comics in which they can tell a story about current times, someone else’s life or an imagined world, whichever they feel like creating.
Translanguaging comics – Activity Sheet (English version)
Translanguaging comics – Activity Sheet (Polish version)
Translanguaging comics – Activity Sheet (Romanian version)
