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The Times said the CDs, released by Asahi Press, a Japanese publisher of language books, are leading a host of Obama-themed language learning products, including such titles as "Speech Training: Learning to Deliver English Speech, Obama Style"; "Learn English Grammar From Obama"; and "Yes, I Can With Obama: 40 Magical English Phrases From Presidential E-mails."
Publishers are tapping into a lucrative Japanese foreign-language learning market valued by some at $8.7 billion, and students say Obama is a good teacher because his English pronunciation is easy to understand.
"He pronounces words clearly and speaks at a relatively slow clip," Professor Tadaharu Nikaido, a communication specialist, told the newspaper. "Movies tend to be the most difficult for Japanese, especially when actors mumble their words."