Been seeing plenty of times where vocabulary is high but confidence in making conversation is low. So would like to suggest using pre-existing tools (like this forum) to get some fluency in this area?

[Note to Nick: possible enhancement?]

This idea came to me of all places in a hot shower. Here goes:

Each week a standard set of questions (start with 2 or 3?) is placed in a new thread.
Each person attempts to answer/respond (pinyin/characters don't matter)

Then the stronger/more fluent members can give comments or even reply to the original replies (simulate conversation)

By placing it on the forum, others can read and learn how others would respond (vs. a 1-on-1 chat which doesn't facilitate group learning)

The problem is that even the advanced learners here aren't native Chinese speakers. If you want to learn conversational Chinese I would suggest using one of the many language exchange sites to find a conversation partner.

James

Or download QQ international and you will find an endless supply of people to practice with

http://www.imqq.com/

@JB: Yes, QQ is a great way to learn very quickly. I've found most people very forgiving as well when I make a mistake or don't understand.

Yeah, both for reading and writing, as well as spoken, it can help you with all of those things.

@smhon I also wish I could find a forum suited towards you described. I would much prefer a forum above such chat tools as QQ. If anyone knows of any website where you might submit (short) written essays in Chinese and have them critiqued I would be happy to learn about them.

If you start a QQ account and a QQ 空间, you can get plenty of critiques from your contacts when you write blog posts. But yeah, it takes a while to build up enough contacts that actually care to interact with you. But in the long run it would be worth it.

You can submit writing and get critiques on livemocha or lang8. My experience is that most people are too nice, though.