奧巴馬演講集熱銷日本 成英語教科書

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,

"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.

美國新任總統奧巴馬的演講集作爲英語學習資料深受青睞，成爲日本的最暢銷圖書。

一本名爲《奧巴馬演講集》的英語教科書在短短兩個月內售出40多萬冊，成爲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100萬冊。

日本人學英語熱情高漲，很多書店都設有專門的英文圖書專區，而現在很多上架銷售的英文書都是關於奧巴馬的。

《奧巴馬演講集》出版商日本朝日出版社的山本友三說：“總統及總統候選人的演講可以作爲非常好的英語學習聽力材料，不僅內容好而且容易聽懂。”

他說：“奧巴馬的演說尤其如此。不僅非常感人，而且所用的 ‘是的，我們能行’、‘變革’和‘希望’等詞語甚至都能爲日本民衆記住。”

但他說，喬治•Ｗ•布什和前總統候選人約翰•克里在四年前的演說可沒有如此的吸引力。日本政治家的演講也不怎麼吸引人。

“日本沒有能產生如此影響力的政治家。所以我們不得不把希望寄託於一個外國首腦身上。“

這本平裝版英文演講集共95頁，其中收錄了奧巴馬自2004年民主黨全國代表大會至民主黨黨內初選戰勝希拉里•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1050日元（合12美元）。目前這本書高居日本亞馬遜網上書城暢銷榜榜首。

山本友三說：“讀者寄來明信片說，他們聽了演講後，感動得流下了熱淚——儘管他們不能完全聽懂英文。”

他稱日本最大反對黨、民主黨的立法委員也買了這本書學習奧巴馬的演講。

隨着奧巴馬本週二就任美國總統，朝日出版社計劃再出版一本續集，增錄他的就職演說、前總統約翰•F•肯尼迪1961年的就職演說、以及前總統亞伯拉罕•林肯1863年的葛底斯堡演講。