The President as English teacher

[Joel S. Berson]

 From the NYTimes article:

      Since the sales took off, he has received postcards from
readers saying they had been touched by Mr. Obama's speeches, but
"those same people have said they were moved even though they didn't
understand English well," he said. "Some even said the only phrase
they caught was, 'Yes, we can.' They said they were in tears nonetheless."
      Mr. Yamamoto said there was a sincerity about Mr. Obama's
speaking style that listeners could perceive phonetically, combined
with a delivery that was almost musical.
      "That seems to result in sensation, the kind of which you get
from listening to good music," he said.
      Other observers say that Japanese buyers probably feel as
though they understand his speeches just from the nonverbal cues.

[By the way, was this in the print edition?  I didn't see it in Boston.]

On the other hand, there is the speech of another president, "the Old
Charmer, the Actor, with his practiced rhetoric, his histrionics, his
emotional appeal", which is received by most patients in the aphasia
ward convulsed with laughter, others looking bewildered,outraged,
apprehensive.  "Something has gone" in these persons, "but something
has come ... has been immensely enhanced, so that -- at least with
emotionally-laden utterance -- the meaning may be fully grasped even
when every word is missed."  "One cannot lie to an aphasic."

 From Chapter 9, "The President's Speech", in _The Man Who Mistook
His Wife for a Hat_, by Oliver Sacks.

Joel

At 10/12/2009 08:23 AM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 7:29 AM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
> >
> >
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/business/global/12iht-speech.html?ref=education
>
>The Wall St. Journal reported on Obama as Japanese English teacher
>back in February:
>
>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123517693330337663.html

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