May,2013　contents =========
・This month’s review
・This month’s word list
============================

Hi there!!

Well, you’re probably wondering where the May End of Month Review is, right? So sorry it’s taken this long to get it to you. As you know, I was late last month because I got confused with the Golden Week holiday, even though it was not GW here in Australia!

This time, I’m sorry to be late, but my father had to have emergency surgery in the last week of May, and the doctors told us they were not sure if he would survive, so basically I spent most of my week, and still now, at the hospital by his side. The good news is that he seems to have survived the surgery and is healing well, he was moved out of ICCU (Intensive and Critical Care Unit) yesterday, but he is still very sick, and I’m very worried about him. So again, sorry for the delay in sending this, but please send your get well wishes to my dad if you can. Thank you!

Alright, let’s get started with May’s review mail!

May’s topic was “Resonate!　響かせよ！”Often I introduce books I’ve read, as you know, and this month I want to introduce a book that really resonated with me. The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. He is talking about our inner fears – that are usually subconscious fears that we learned in childhood – sabotage us when we try to be happier, richer, or more successful than we feel comfortable with. This “level” that we are comfortable with is what the author calls our “Upper Limit” problem, and everyone has this problem, even hugely successful people.

The book talks about Bill Clinton. According to the book, when Bill was a child visiting the White House, he told an attendant that he was “going to live here one day.” And he did!! He reached his goal of becoming the president of America. That’s pretty amazing, and you wouldn’t think he had an “upper limit”, but the author says that he does, and that is why rather than going on to even greater success he sabotaged himself by getting involved in the sex scandal. And of course, I’m sure you know of other people who have been so successful and then lost it, lottery winners, Tiger Woods, in marriage relationships Tom Cruise for example… so when I thought about this, I was interested to learn more about this Upper Limit.

Naturally, I was wondering if there was an Upper Limit for Japanese people when they are learning English… what do you think? Has anyone ever complimented you on your English? How did you respond? I’m sure it was probably with a “no, no” or something like that! This may be a way of staying within your “comfortable level” because of an unconscious belief about English. The media in Japan, many schools, and even parents send out messages to children that “English is difficult” or “Japanese people cannot speak English.” These are not really true, right? But they can easily create a negative belief in young children who have never experienced English, and so when they become adults, they have the subconscious belief that English is difficult, and that is actually one of the main reasons that they struggle to improve in English… that is my theory, after I finished reading The Big Leap.

What do you think? Do you agree with my theory? Do you have a different theory? Come and tell me about it on Facebook! Let me know if this email “resonated” with you!

And as always a quick review of the monthly words.

What five words were new for you?


What one word really excited you? (I mean, what word were you glad to learn.)


Create a sentence using your favorite word from the month.


And if you don’t have the Eigo Techo nearby, here’s the word list for May:
May 1 infinite 無限の
May 2 helpful 役に立つ
May 3 grave まじめな
May 4 brief 簡潔な
May 5 encouraging励みになる
May 6 receive 受け取る
May 7 address 取り組む
May 8 build 組み立てる
May 9 further one’s education素養を深める
May 10 resonate 共鳴する
May 11 embody 具体化する
May 12 matter 重要である
May 13 fame 名声
May 14 inspirationインスピレーション
May 15 purpose 目的
May 16 creativity創造性
May 17 magic 不思議な力・ミラクル
May 18 education学び
May 19 fire解雇する
May 20 ambitious野心的な
May 21 endless 終わりのない
May 22 emotional感情的な
May 23 golden 素晴らしい
May 24 envious 羨望する
May 25 natural 自然な
May 26 poetic 詩的な
May 27 momentum運動量
May 28 genius 才能
May 29 dream 夢
May 30 abundance豊富
May 31 harmonyバランス

Remember to send me feedback if you have any thoughts or questions concerning the mail magazine. Send me a message or leave a comment on my Facebook page. Hope to hear from you!

See you at the end of next month! (Well, actually the end of “this” month!!)

Chris