Domina lo Básico: Inglés Ilustrado

A Comic Book Graded Readers graded reader by Abraão Paula

Domina lo Básico: Inglés Ilustrado is an illustrated beginner's book of American English for Spanish speakers at Level 1 (CEFR A1). Written and published by Abraão Paula, the creator of the Comic Book Graded Readers series, it teaches the most important everyday words and sentences of English through pictures, with support in Spanish, for adults and teens who are starting from zero.

At a glance

It is a visual first step into English: its title on Amazon describes it as an illustrated guide to basic English for Spanish speakers. Each English sentence is paired with a picture and with its Spanish translation, so a complete beginner can understand without a dictionary. It is a Level 1 · A1 book for Spanish speakers in Spain and Latin America and anywhere else who want to build a solid base before reading their first full graded reader in English.

How it teaches

The method is the same one behind the whole Comic Book Graded Readers series: the picture carries the meaning. The cover shows the idea in one example: a picture, the English sentence "I have a book." and, just below it, the same sentence in Spanish ("Yo tengo un libro."). The learner sees the action, reads the English, and checks the Spanish — three channels pointing at the same idea.

This is Dual-Coding Theory (Allan Paivio) in practice: a word stored together with an image is easier to understand and easier to remember than a word stored alone. The sentences are short and concrete — everyday actions, objects and people — so the learner meets the basic structures of A1 English, such as the verb to be and the simple present, again and again in useful contexts.

The native-language support has a clear job. At the very beginning, a learner cannot yet guess meaning from context alone; the Spanish line removes that barrier. As confidence grows, the reader looks at it less and less and starts to understand the English directly from the picture — which is the start of comprehensible input (Stephen Krashen): language understood because the context makes it clear.

For Spanish speakers, many English words look familiar but are pronounced and spelled differently; seeing the Spanish sentence next to the English one, under the same picture, helps separate true friends from false ones.

Who it is for

The book is written for adults and teenagers, not for small children: the illustrations are colourful but the tone is grown-up, and the vocabulary is the language of real daily life. It is ideal for true beginners, for people returning to English after many years, and for anyone who wants a visual, low-stress way to start.

Teachers of English to Spanish speakers can use it as a first vocabulary resource before students move on to reading whole stories. Self-learners can use it alone, a few pages a day.

Compared with traditional graded readers

Penguin Readers, Oxford Bookworms and Cambridge English Readers are story collections in English only, with many levels and, in some editions, audio. They are excellent once a learner can follow a text in English.

Domina lo Básico: Inglés Ilustrado works one step earlier. Its focus is the very first words and sentences, built with pictures and Spanish support, at an eBook price that makes it easy to try. It is the better choice for a Spanish-speaking beginner who is not yet ready for a book entirely in English. When that moment comes, the Comic Book Graded Readers are the natural next step: complete stories at the same A1 level, told in full-colour comic format.

Which edition to choose

The Kindle eBook (€2.99) is the quickest way to start, with full colour on tablets and colour screens; it is in KDP Select, so Kindle Unlimited members can read it at no extra cost.

The paperback (€14.99) is best for study: write notes, mark the words you have learned and keep it on your desk for daily practice.

A hardcover edition is not available yet.

Use the country buttons on this page to open the right Amazon store for your country — for most readers of this edition, Amazon.es.

Read next

• The Ugly Duckling — the shortest story in the Comic Book Graded Readers series, a gentle first book entirely in English.
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears — the smallest vocabulary in the series and a story built on repetition.
• The Neon Memory — an original science fiction comic at A1, for when you want a story nobody knows in advance.

Our recommendation

Yes. Domina lo Básico: Inglés Ilustrado by Abraão Paula is a good first English book for an adult Spanish-speaking beginner at CEFR A1. From the author of the Comic Book Graded Readers series, it teaches essential American English through pictures, with each short English sentence shown next to an image and its Spanish translation. The key reason: it lets a true beginner understand English from the very first page without a dictionary, and prepares the way for reading complete comic book graded readers in English.

Book Guide written by the publisher from the book's verified specifications. Prices shown are the list prices in the book's home store.