PRESIDENT BARACK Obama is believed to be more popular outside the US than within it. His stellar reputation abroad has developed a new twist – his face adorns the covers of a host of ELT  materials. The ‘let’s learn English with Obama’ phenomenon is particularly big in Japan, according to the New York Times. A CD released by Asahi Press featuring a recording of Obama’s inaugural speech has already sold over 200,000 there. Asahi Press’s Obama speeches compilation CD has sold half a million copies. There’s been a proliferation of Obama-related EFL titles from various Japanese publishers. Titles include Learn English Grammar From Obama  and Speech Training: Learning to Deliver English Speech, Obama Style.

Asahi Press editor Yuzo Yamamoto gets a lot of mail from Japanese Obama fans. Many admit to purchasing the CDs and being moved to tears, despite being unable to  understand much English beyond Obama’s catchphrase, ‘Yes, we can!’ Some Japanese listeners describe how Obama’s voice, although unintelligible to them, puts them at ease. Other non-English-speaking Japanese Obama fans seem to understand the speeches through what the New York Times calls ‘non-verbal cues’, such as the audience chanting or laughing at Obama’s jokes.

Communications specialist Professor Tadaharu Nikaido has a simpler explanation for Obama’s popularity among EFL learners.  ‘Obama’s English is easy to understand because he pronounces words clearly and speaks at a relatively slow pace,’ he says. ‘Movies tend to be the most difficult for Japanese, especially when actors mumble their words.’