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President Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan -- as an aid to learning English.
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President Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan -- as an aid to learning English.
An English-language textbook, "The Speeches of Barack Obama," has sold more than 400,000 copies in two months, a big hit in a country where few hit novels sell more than a million copies a year.
Japanese have a fervor for learning English and many bookstores have a corner dedicated to dozens of journals in the language, many of them now featuring the new U.S. leader's face.
"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.
Speeches by George W. Bush and former nominee John Kerry's four years ago did not have the same appeal, however, and nor do those made by Japanese 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."
The 95-page paperback features Obama's speeches in English from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and during the Democratic Party primaries, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton. 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, http://www.amazon.co.jp/
"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," Yamamoto said.
He said lawmakers from Japan's main opposition Democratic Party had bought the book to study Obama's speeches.
Following Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, 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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(Agencies)
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美國(guó)新任總統(tǒng)奧巴馬的演講集作為英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)資料深受青睞，成為日本的最暢銷圖書。
一本名為《奧巴馬演講集》的英語(yǔ)教科書在短短兩個(gè)月內(nèi)售出40多萬(wàn)冊(cè)，成為日本書市上的最暢銷圖書。在日本很少有暢銷書的年銷量突破100萬(wàn)冊(cè)。
日本人學(xué)英語(yǔ)熱情高漲，很多書店都設(shè)有專門的英文圖書專區(qū)，而現(xiàn)在很多上架銷售的英文書都是關(guān)于奧巴馬的。
《奧巴馬演講集》出版商日本朝日出版社的山本友三說(shuō)：“總統(tǒng)及總統(tǒng)候選人的演講可以作為非常好的英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)聽力材料，不僅內(nèi)容好而且容易聽懂。”
他說(shuō)：“奧巴馬的演說(shuō)尤其如此。不僅非常感人，而且所用的 ‘是的，我們能行’、‘變革’和‘希望’等詞語(yǔ)甚至都能為日本民眾記住。”
但他說(shuō)，喬治?Ｗ?布什和前總統(tǒng)候選人約翰?克里在四年前的演說(shuō)可沒(méi)有如此的吸引力。日本政治家的演講也不怎么吸引人。
“日本沒(méi)有能產(chǎn)生如此影響力的政治家。所以我們不得不把希望寄托于一個(gè)外國(guó)首腦身上。“
這本平裝版英文演講集共95頁(yè)，其中收錄了奧巴馬自2004年民主黨全國(guó)代表大會(huì)至民主黨黨內(nèi)初選戰(zhàn)勝希拉里?克林頓期間的演講，所有演講都配有日文翻譯。
演講集附有一張光盤，每套售價(jià)1050日元（合12美元）。目前這本書高居日本亞馬遜網(wǎng)上書城http://www.amazon.co.jp/暢銷榜榜首。
山本友三說(shuō)：“讀者寄來(lái)明信片說(shuō)，他們聽了演講后，感動(dòng)得流下了熱淚——盡管他們不能完全聽懂英文。”
他稱日本最大反對(duì)黨、民主黨的立法委員也買了這本書學(xué)習(xí)奧巴馬的演講。
隨著奧巴馬本周二就任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)，朝日出版社計(jì)劃再出版一本續(xù)集，增錄他的就職演說(shuō)、前總統(tǒng)約翰?F?肯尼迪1961年的就職演說(shuō)、以及前總統(tǒng)亞伯拉罕?林肯1863年的葛底斯堡演講。
（英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）
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