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 www.modernmediajapan.com
‘English is expected in
               today’s business scene’
On April 2, NHK’s “Close-Up Gendai” covered the fact that Japanese businesspeople at all levels need to communicate in English in their
everyday lives, now more than ever. Now, to learn just about anything, sometimes it helps to have a great model to follow.



                                                                                                                                          1
Well, one of the best English communicators these days, oddly enough, is someone I learn from myself: US President Barack Obama.



                                                                                                                                   2
TOKYO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack
                                                                      Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in
                                                                      Japan -- as an aid to learning English.

                                                                      An English-language textbook, quot;The
                                                                      Speeches of Barack Obama,quot; 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.

                                                                      quot;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,quot; said Yuzo
                                                                      Yamamoto of Asahi Press, which produced the
                                                                      best-selling text book.

When I worked for the Obama campaign last year, and when he won
the presidency, my Japanese friends told me that, even when they
don’t understand exactly what he’s saying, the way he speaks gives
them a sense of optimism. A sense, dare I say it, of hope. Many
friends have told me that they wish they could be as persuasive and
inspiring.


                                                                                                                       3
Of course, they’re not the only ones :-)


                                           4
1. The Weekly Address: Subtitled Onsite                                                                                                Free




     2. Functional English Workshop: Webcast                                                                                                 Paid




So, with these folks in mind, in April, our little company created Eigobama.com, where Japanese intermediate learners can learn functional
English keywords and phrases from his speeches…and much more…




                                                                                                                                                    5
Functional
                   English

   Persuade                         Disagree
    Inform                      Show generosity
    Excite                          Describe
   Caution                         Tell a story
   Befriend                      Be humorous
      Ask                        Be optimistic
 Be accessible                    Be confident
  Show pride                   Project authority
Explain benefits                 Project warmth
     Agree                     Project modernity

                                                   6
The Weekly Address, subtitled




President Obama is very skilled at crafting his speeches to accomplish specific tasks – that is the language he uses performs a specific function. With
this in mind, we define Functional English as language for a purpose: to persuade, to inform, to excite, and so on. On the site, we’ve subtitled the
Weekly address in Japanese and English. The President improvises while he’s speaking, and our titles reflect that.




                                                                                                                                                   7
Now, what you see here is not an even taller Barack Obama.:-)
The English text on the bottom comes from the captioned version on the White House YouTube Channel. At the next level, you'll see the Eigobama
English titles, which are optimized for English learners: they match the timing of what the President is saying. Then, on top, you see the Eigobama
Japanese subtitles. We try to match his actual speech where possible, rather than recreating the traditional Japanese sentence structure. And, we
enhance the audio, to make the listening experience even better.




                                                                                                                                                      8
We do all of this to help Intermediate learners experience the language in a more effective, realistic way. All of this material is available for free on
Eigobama.com.


                                                                                                                                                            9
And we’re working on developing a new feature: Webcast Workshops. We’ll explore 2-3 Functional English keywords or phrases from a recent
speech. Then we’ll have some gentle free form Q&A around the theme, giving you the chance to talk about current events in real time.




                                                                                                                                           10
Eventually, we’ll take the concept offline as well with the Eigobama Town Hall, which we plan to launch in September.



                                                                                                                        11
brought to you by:                                                      many thanks to:




                  www.modernmediajapan.com



If you’re interested in checking us out, the site is Eigobama.com, our Twittername is eigobama as well. Thank you for your time.



                                                                                                                                   12
13

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Eigobama.com - オバマ大統領の演説でアメリカについて学ぶ。

  • 1. brought to you by: many thanks to: www.modernmediajapan.com
  • 2. ‘English is expected in today’s business scene’ On April 2, NHK’s “Close-Up Gendai” covered the fact that Japanese businesspeople at all levels need to communicate in English in their everyday lives, now more than ever. Now, to learn just about anything, sometimes it helps to have a great model to follow. 1
  • 3. Well, one of the best English communicators these days, oddly enough, is someone I learn from myself: US President Barack Obama. 2
  • 4. TOKYO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan -- as an aid to learning English. An English-language textbook, quot;The Speeches of Barack Obama,quot; 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. quot;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,quot; said Yuzo Yamamoto of Asahi Press, which produced the best-selling text book. When I worked for the Obama campaign last year, and when he won the presidency, my Japanese friends told me that, even when they don’t understand exactly what he’s saying, the way he speaks gives them a sense of optimism. A sense, dare I say it, of hope. Many friends have told me that they wish they could be as persuasive and inspiring. 3
  • 5. Of course, they’re not the only ones :-) 4
  • 6. 1. The Weekly Address: Subtitled Onsite Free 2. Functional English Workshop: Webcast Paid So, with these folks in mind, in April, our little company created Eigobama.com, where Japanese intermediate learners can learn functional English keywords and phrases from his speeches…and much more… 5
  • 7. Functional English Persuade Disagree Inform Show generosity Excite Describe Caution Tell a story Befriend Be humorous Ask Be optimistic Be accessible Be confident Show pride Project authority Explain benefits Project warmth Agree Project modernity 6
  • 8. The Weekly Address, subtitled President Obama is very skilled at crafting his speeches to accomplish specific tasks – that is the language he uses performs a specific function. With this in mind, we define Functional English as language for a purpose: to persuade, to inform, to excite, and so on. On the site, we’ve subtitled the Weekly address in Japanese and English. The President improvises while he’s speaking, and our titles reflect that. 7
  • 9. Now, what you see here is not an even taller Barack Obama.:-) The English text on the bottom comes from the captioned version on the White House YouTube Channel. At the next level, you'll see the Eigobama English titles, which are optimized for English learners: they match the timing of what the President is saying. Then, on top, you see the Eigobama Japanese subtitles. We try to match his actual speech where possible, rather than recreating the traditional Japanese sentence structure. And, we enhance the audio, to make the listening experience even better. 8
  • 10. We do all of this to help Intermediate learners experience the language in a more effective, realistic way. All of this material is available for free on Eigobama.com. 9
  • 11. And we’re working on developing a new feature: Webcast Workshops. We’ll explore 2-3 Functional English keywords or phrases from a recent speech. Then we’ll have some gentle free form Q&A around the theme, giving you the chance to talk about current events in real time. 10
  • 12. Eventually, we’ll take the concept offline as well with the Eigobama Town Hall, which we plan to launch in September. 11
  • 13. brought to you by: many thanks to: www.modernmediajapan.com If you’re interested in checking us out, the site is Eigobama.com, our Twittername is eigobama as well. Thank you for your time. 12
  • 14. 13