College entrance manga 'Freaks required to be one-sided'

[Taro Toporific]

TokyoNow: English-Japanese illustrated vocabulary book gains popularity
TOKYO, July 6, Kyodo -An English-Japanese vocabulary book full of cartoon illustrations and usage examples is a hot seller not only among senior high school students preparing for university entrance exams but also university students. Sansai Books Co., the Tokyo-based publisher of the 1,200 yen book ''Moeru Eitango'' or ''Moetan'' (Budding English Wordbook) in short....
Usage examples target the psychology of animation cartoon and game fans, with examples such as ''Freaks are required to be one-sided rather than to be an average'' and ''She punishes you on behalf of the moon.''

[Caustic Saint]

That actually sounds like a cool book! Any idea how useful (or at least entertaining) it would be for an English speaker?

[Neo-Rio]

Kingo Hanamoto, 68, a professor involved in dictionary editing at the private Waseda University said, ''These books have been published, reflecting the disposition of students that everything should be pleasant and easy.''

And therein lies the problem of teaching English in Japan.....

Make it pleasant and easy, they learn nothing but enjoy English lessons....
Make them learn the hard way, they become fluent... but end up hating gaijin and trying to correct their English.

Just can't %&'$'&* win.

[Andocrates]

Kingo Hanamoto, 68, a professor involved in dictionary editing at the private Waseda University said, ''These books have been published, reflecting the disposition of students that everything should be pleasant and easy.''

And therein lies the problem of teaching English in Japan.....

Make it pleasant and easy, they learn nothing but enjoy English lessons....
Make them learn the hard way, they become fluent... but end up hating gaijin and trying to correct their English.

Just can't %&'$'&* win.

That's teaching in a nutshell though, right? Kids want to learn note by note the guitar solo to "Stairway to Heaven" but not the boring theory that allows you to create a guitar solo in the first place.

At any rate I don't get the ''Freaks are required to be one-sided rather than to be an average'' line, is that supposed to make sense?