I’ve had a lot of free time since I’ve been home so I’ve been hitting the books pretty hard, cramming bunches of Japanese vocabulary into my brain.  I’ve also been roaming around on delicious looking for helpful websites and forum posts about achieving fluency in Japanese.  This translators cafe thread led me to the translation and interpretation program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.  Their page “Ten Ways to Prepare” is full of great tips including:

• Read high quality newspapers in your non-native language EVERYDAY for at least a year
• Read high quality news magazines (e.g. the Economist from cover to cover; really know the material in all working languages, the Scientific American, etc.)
• Copy (by hand) sections of textbooks and periodicals in your non-native languages
• Practice listening to speeches and orally summarizing the main points
• Practice writing summaries of news articles
• Practice explaining complicated concepts understandably
• Be prepared for the long haul

(read the entire list here)

I’ve been stuck in “x kanji a day” land for a while now so these suggestions are much appreciated.  I like how many deal with analytical skills that I haven’t thought about.  It may be time to edge out of rote learning bit by bit so I can work on other skills.