A textbook to learn English containing speeches of the newly inaugurated US President, Barack Obama, has become a best-seller in Japan.
The textbook, The Speeches of Barack Obama, has sold more than 400,000 copies, becoming a big hit in a country where few popular novels sell more than a million copies a year.
Yuzo Yamamoto, a spokesman from Asahi Press which produced the book, said: “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.”
He added: “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 memorise.”
