Obama, new English teacher for Japanese students

Barack Obama's inspiring "Yes, We Can" speeches have become the latest English learning tools in Japan where the youth have gobbled up 4.8 lakh copies of books, containing his addresses, in just three months.

In Japan, Obama's speeches are creating waves among students who want to master English as a foreign language.

Obama speech books also created a modest windfall for the publishing industry and English language schools. 'The Speeches of Barack Obama,' has become a best-selling book with 480,000 copies sold in three months.

Instructors have used unconventional English learning materials before, such as cooking classes in English and watching TV serial Friends with a translated Japanese script, But they think that Obama's speeches are well suited because he speaks slowly, with good pace and rhythm, and enunciates well, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"Other speeches may be better for learning vocabulary, but Obama's speeches make me excited about speaking English," Nobuhiro Murauchi, a learner said.

At least six similar Obama speech books have been published so far. 

Ishiwata, who heads an English language school called Kaplan Japan, draws almost 200 students a week to his Obama workshops.

Japanese prime minister Taro Aso, who attended graduate school at Stanford University and known for cracking jokes in English, has also got impressed by Obama's style after his first telephone conversation with the president in mid-November.