Japanese Learn English from President Obama's Speeches
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President Barack Obama's speeches are a best-seller in Japan - as an aid to learning English. An English-language textbook, The Speeches of Barack Obama, sold more than 400,000 copies in the two months following its publication.

"Speeches by presidents and presidential candidates are excellent as listening tools to learn English, because their contents are good and their words are easy to catch," said Yuzo Yamamoto of Asahi Press, which produced the best-selling text book. "Obama's is especially so. His speeches are so moving, and he also uses words such as yes, we can, change and hope that even Japanese people can memorize," he said.

Obama's speeches appeal to the Japanese more than those made by thier own politicians, Yamamoto said.  "In Japan, we don't have politicians who have such a positive influence. That's why we have to turn to a foreign president for someone in whom to place our hopes. Readers have sent in postcards saying that when they heard the speeches, they were so moved and cried even though they don't understand English very well," he added.

The 95-page paperback features Obama's speeches in English from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and during the Democratic Party primaries. They are accompanied by Japanese translations. The 1,050 yen ($12) book, which includes a CD of the speeches, tops the bestseller list on bookseller Amazon's Japanese Website. Asahi Press plans to issue a sequel that includes his inaugural address, as well as President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural speech. It will also feature a reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address of 1863.
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