@xiaohu, i find your comments 'hen youyong he jili'

i too, like fire69 i have a few months of learning and living outside of China without any confrontation of the language on a daily base (as he says) therefore, mising out on mimicry and tones. but will certainly apply some of your points.

@xiaohu, echo, i have started my own list of grammar points and sentence structures (with some examples) in OpenOffice for future print/reference > i've tried but not succesful with flashcards.

as suggested by ddavetaylor do you think Anki(have not downloaded yet) would be more efficient since i can get pinyin with tones and translation ? i don't want to get 'tai fuza' i'm happy with my daily dose of popupchinese premium features.