Obamamania

It's been described by its publishers as a huge hit in Japan - a compilation of the speeches of Barak Obama has sold well over 400.000 copies, and students at an English class in Tokyo are even memorising the new President's words to improve their own pronunciation and understanding.

Barak Obama's message of change has been well received in Japan where politics is often characterised by grey figrres and backroom deals. The clear language of the speeches makes them an obvious choice for teaching material. But the new President's words are said to hold particular appeal.

And so, in shops across Japan the face of the new American President is a fixture on the bookshelves, as well as on the nesstands. And for students, the question of whether they'll succeed in improving their English can be answered - 'Yes we can'.



1. a huge hit → it means sth. popular, sth. happended successfully
e.g: IPod has been a huge hit in recent years.

2. a compilation → it means sth. was compiled, gathered together
e.g: This book is a compilation of poetry.

3. addressing → it means to announce a speech to the public
e.g: Sarah is going to address the meeting in this afternoon.

4. convention → it means a meeting or convocation, an event that lots of people attend
e.g: I need to attend the convention at 3 p.m.

5. grey figures → it means the money that no one knows where it is
e.g: Does he really know where the grey figures is?

6. backroom deals → it means that do sth. secretly
e.g: He won the game by the backroom deals.

7. to hold particular appeal → to support a special event
e.g: The councilor did a lot of thing to hold particular appeal.

8. perseverance → keep working hard, never give up
e.g: Laura won the dancing championship because of her perseverance.