Japanese turn to Obama to learn English
Hundreds of thousands of Japanese people are trying to learn English from Barack Obama.
A book compiling his speeches, along with Japanese translations and a CD, has been snapped up by over 400,000 would-be English speakers.
Publishers of 'The Speeches of Barack Obama' Asahi Press say Obamas use of words such as such as 'yes, we can' 'change' and 'hope' can easily be understood and remembered.
The 95-page book includes his famous speeches from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the Democratic Party primaries ... the book will also be out of date later this afternoon.
At least they didn't try to learn English from George 'Dubya' Bush - we would have all misunderestimated their ability.
One student said of using the Obama book: "While looking at the text of English-Japanese contrasts, when you hear, accuracy of the insistence and clear of point, the person further extraordinary it is possible to get wise."
- Well it's still better than my Japanese ... and on some days my English.
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