I have same question about how to improve my English

Thanks for the links, I'm learning Japanese all solo depending on where I live at the time. It's yet an other ressource for me. Cheers!

JW => I'm currently talking and writing to a friend from Funabashi over the Internet. It's true that it's the only way to learn, I send her messages in hiragana (my kanjis are not good) and she corrects me and we do the reverse for English, French, Italian...etc.. wanna exchange Emails?

NHK news offers streaming broadcasts, and you can change the speed: slow, normal, fast.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/r-news/

I usually tried to learn about a particular topic that interested me, like sake or something, learned some key words or phrases, and then asked questions in order to steer the conversation, when appropriate, in a direction where I could participate. But, really, the secret is to realize that human beings everywhere usually speak in shallow platitudes 99% of the time, so having the bare basics is good enough.

I improved my Japanese level by making Japanese study the be-all and end-all of my existence. I studied three or four hours a day - or more. I had several tactics:

1) I studied for the level-1 proficiency exam. It's huge, but your Japanese level will increase.

2) When I was a JET, I read middle-school textbooks and attended social studies classes. I also started a club that didn't require English but instead required me to explain things in understandable Japanese (only outcasts joined my club, and outcasts sometimes are not very bright.)

3) I read more difficult manga, especially Aoki Yuji (Naniwa Kinyudo) and Kobayashi Yoshinori, who both use plenty of high-level Japanese - when it's tough going you can take a break and look at the pictures while remaining engaged with the narrative.
My current fave magaze is called DaCapo

4) I got a part-time job where I had to use "keigo" - I was a wedding priest.

5) I read the local newspaper with a dictionary, and I also taped shows like "Koko wa hen da yo, Nihonjin!" and "Miracle Type". I also bought books that Japanese people themselves use to find out how to write business correspondance and speak proper Japanese.

6) I modelled conversations with my wife as much as possible. If something needed fixing in the house, I would role play with my wife and then phone whoever to explain the problem and request service. I also dealt with the bloody NHK collector (I was probably the only foreigner in Japan who paid the NHK fees), took the car in to get repaired, registered my son's birth at city hall (they got the kanji wrong!), did the taxes - all in Japanese!

Eventually I started writing freelance articles and would have to talk to government officials and company spokespeople about various things.

I ended up running a business with my wife and employed five or six instructors, none of whom spoke conversational English. I now live in Canada and wonder what the hell happened. It's like I lived in another dimension with better food.

Thanks for this list. I've had someone recommend #2 to me before, but I've never gotten around to finding middle school text books. I'll do that now.

Just wondering, Do you still feel comfortable speaking Japanese?

How old are your daughters? Did they ever go to the Shichi-go-san ceremony? If so, how was it?