Sorry for the wait on the response - I've been on the move back to China. Truth is, I learned Chinese in Beijing, and my recommendation for learning Chinese is to move here - I've yet to meet anyone who learned perfect Chinese without being forced to practice on a regular basis (though they must exist) and even now after quite a while here, I wouldn't consider myself fluent. I realize that doesn't help the majority of learners, who can't make that kind of jump for the sake of learning a language, but total immersion is the one thing I've seen really work. And truth be told, sometimes that doesn't even work - I have friends that have been here 15 years that can only speak enough to get around. Though this flies in the face of everything all my teachers ever said to me, my recommendation is that if you're abroad, I'd focus on one thing - reading or speaking, and jump in with both feet. If it's speaking and listening you want to do the most, sign up for chinesepod.com and listen to a podcast over breakfast or while getting dressed in the morning. If it's reading you want to do the most, set yourself to translating small blips you find online and learning to recognize 20 words a week.