"Cross-Cultural Seminar"是我很喜歡的一個Podcast節目，可惜她也隨著2010年一起走入歷史了。
「Cross-Cultural Seminar」は、テレビやラジオの英会話番組の講師としておなじみの大杉正明先生とスーザン岩本さんが、毎回、日本と英語圏の文化や風俗、習慣の違いをテーマにした楽しいトークを繰り広げるポッドキャスト番組です。 大杉先生の軽妙なトークと、スーザン岩本さんの正確な英語発音を通して、使える英語表現、英語ならではの言語感覚を自然に身につけることができます。
熟悉的開場白： (O stands for Mr. Ohsugi; S, Susan Iwamoto)
O: Ohsugi Masaaki no Cross-Cultural Seminar.
S: Sponsored by Olympus.
O: Welcome to Cross-Cultural Seminar, my name is Masaaki Ohsugi.
S: And I'm Susan Iwamoto.
.....
"Cross Cultural Seminar" was a very interesting podcast to listen to, which I really enjoyed a lot. Were my command of Japanese better, then I would enjoy even more.
The issues discussed in the program were cultural phenomena --- the difference, similarity or even contrary of cultures between Japan and US. This kind of comparison and discussion was not just interesting and brought with lots of fun, but also promoted understanding of different societies. The program was meant for Japanese to understand American society better and subsequently helped language learning. In fact, learning a foreign tongue is not just about the pronunciation and grammar, but the culture of the society. This is also the reason why I have been interested in learning foreign languages.
The charm of this program was rooted in its hosts, Mr. Masaaki Ohsugi and Ms. Susan Iwamoto. It’s a shame that I never really made up my mind learning Japanese. In past 15 years or so, I picked up Japanese textbooks on and off. Though I used to work for a multinational company whose headquarters based in Tokyo for more than 7 years, I never really committed myself learning the language. It was the very reason that I had chosen that company to work for in the first place, but I found out that it was far better speaking English rather Japanese shortly after I took the office. (Perhaps, I may write about such a finding in another log here later on.) This might be the biggest discouragement to me.
I had been afraid that this program, Cross-Cultural Seminar, was not able to continue due to weak product line of its sponsor, Olympus. The product advertised was firstly IC voice recorder, then later the similar product with tunner or internet connectivity, I guessed, so-called, "radio server". The IC voice recorder is a good product indeed (much better than the cassette one); however, most of mobile phone nowadays featured with such function, who is going to pay for such a gadget? Not to mention the extra cost, the user needs to bring another device with him/her. Though a nice tool, but an extra gadget to carry around is really too much, it’s redundant in daily life. As to the product so-called, "radio server", I think it aims at niche market. In another words, the revenue it may generate won't be good.
Things seemed changed! In September, Mr. Ohsugi announced that 10 million download of its podcast program (刺青（いれずみ）もtattooと英語にするとちょっとファッショナブル？). I was quite happy to learn that and thought such popularity might sustain the program. 10 million times of download, that's really significant number! I had no idea about the reason behind the program would end. Though there were likely the issues with 2 hosts. But I thought the sponsorship might be one of the cause, too. It was sad to know this program came to an end.
There are total 211 episodes of the program, and I have them all in my pc. Besides enjoy this program myself, I also introduced many of my friends to listen to it. Kan, my Japanese teacher and friend, bought the book of "Cross-Cultural Seminar" by M. Ohsugi when she traveled to Japan after listened to this program. Only half of the content that I can understand (English part plus some Japanese), and I enjoyed a lot. If my command of Japanese were as good, I would not just enjoy much but also have learned plenty! And as to Kan, Even mostly listening to the Japanese part, she also enjoyed the program. So, I was pretty sure the program was of high quality in both languages. I felt somewhat at a loss about the fact that there won’t be any update of CCS. And I do not think I am able to enjoy Ohsugi sansen’s program in NHK because of my poor listening comprehension of Japanese.
For those who have never listened to this program but feel interested, you may access its website or make use of iTunes to download it. All you have to do is just to log on its website and choose the topics that you feel interested in. So far, there are all 211 episodes available on its website and they are free to download.
Good bye, OHSUGI Masaaki! Good bye, Susan IWAMOTO! Thank you both and Olympus, godspeed!
The end of podcasting announcement is as follows.
リスナーのみなさまへ
2006年11月に始まった当番組も、第211回をもって終了することとなりました。4年間の長きにわたりご愛聴いただきありがとうございました。スタッフ一同、こころより御礼申し上げます。
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