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Haruhi Suzumiya Teaches English Vocabulary in New Books
posted on by Egan Loo
Chukei, a Kadokawa Group Publishing company, will release two books that teach English vocabulary with Nagaru Tanigawa's Haruhi Suzumiya science-fiction comedy light novel series on April 20. The two-volume Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu de Ei-Tango ga Omoshiroi Hodo Mi ni Tsuku Hon series puts pages of excerpted text from the original light novels side-by-side with pages of their English translations. For example, the books put famous quotes like the Mikuru character's "Kinsoku jikō desu" ("That's classified information") next to their English translations with descriptive art by original novel illustrator Noizi Ito.
Hiroki Izumo, a Waseda University doctoral student and lecturer who now teaches at the Yoyogi Seminar, wrote explanations for various English vocabulary words to prepare students for college entrance exams and other English tests. The first English vocabulary book highlights about 1,100 words from the novels' actual text, while the second covers 600 words. Along with sections that deal with derivative words, antonyms, and words with similar but not identical meanings, the two volumes cover about 2,700 words in all.
Ito not only illustrated the front covers of the two volumes, but each volume includes its cover illustration as a poster within. The two English vocabulary books will ship one month before the latest Haruhi Suzumiya light novel, Suzumiya Haruhi no Kyōgaku (The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya), ships in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. The Little, Brown Books for Young Readers imprint will publish the fifth light novel, The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya, in North America in June.
Chukei also published a similar book that teaches chemistry with Lucky Star characters last October. The Moetan and Maritan franchises began as vocabulary guides that teach English words with moe and military characters, respectively. Tokyopop/Kaplan, CliffNotes, and No Starch Press are some of the imprints that have published educational, manga-related guides for English and other subjects in North America.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
