About one year has passed since I joined Toastmasters

I am a member of a Toastmasters Club.

Toastmasters Club is a non-profit and educational organization that teaches public speaking, communication and leadership skills. 

We must only English in our meeting and not Japanese language.

About one year has passed since I joined Toastmasters.

My English pronunciation and grammar are still strange.

But my English skill improve from a year ago. 

Before I joined the club, I got 455 points in the TOEIC examination. 

Now I got a score of 730 points in the TOEIC examination.

My TOEIC score has increased by 300 points from a year.

Well, now I am 41 years old.

I don't need to use English at work.

I have never studied abroad.

I have never lived in a foreign country.

I am an ordinary middle-aged salarymen who doesn't need English. 

Why do I study English?

These days, globalization is expanding. 

The world becomes closer and closer. 

I think maybe in the future it' will be quite difficult for Japanese people to live and work in Japan without English ability. 

This is why I want to speak English.

So,

What on earth can I do to improve English skill?

Toastmasters is one way.

Others,

I did not do anything special.

I only studied English for three hours every day for a year.

including listening to English on my iPod in commuter trains.

In short,

Daily "continuation" is everything.

"Continuation" is the best way to study.

As the saying goes,

"Endurance makes you stronger."

Thanks to the English.

My world is getting wider.

I read English news, and English books.

And,

I have many good friends who study English.

I have many good friends in Toastmasters.

In spite of wrong pronunciation and grammer,

my friends in Toastmasters listen to my speech patiently and generously. 

Thanks to Friends of Toastmasters, I have grown up.

However, my English skill is poor.

I am 41 years old. 

Is it too late for me to study English?

I beg to disagree. 

It's not too late. 

Japanese average life expectancy is approximately 80 years old so I still have 40 more years.

In accordance to a best seller book, "Outlier", written by Malcolm Gladwell, there is what we call ten thousand-hour rule saying that if we make effort for ten thousand-hour, we can become experts. 

We just have to dedicate three hours each day for a period of 10 years. 

With this, we can become everything we want to. 

Old age is neither a hindrance nor an excuse. 

Therefore, 

I will keep studying English. 

I will keep practicing English. 

I will keep running. 

And, hopefully, my dream will come true.