How would it be easiest for YOU to practice?

Is Mark talking about cell phone text messages in Chinese? I don't have patience to do that in English, let alone using Chinese characters.

Voice practice is definitely necessary and I would love to try that. How does Skype work?

Voice practice is necessary, but I also have learned a lot by text messaging.  There are times when I can't afford the time and full concentration for a voice conversation, but slipping in a few text messages is convenient.  Also, it helps with learning the written language, and the additional think time allows me to carry on a more advanced conversation than I could by voice.

I'm a native speaker. In my opinion, voice chat is the most useful way. Because the most difficulty is the 4 tunes in pronunciation. BTW, movies and songs are good teachers. You will make a great progress as long as you adhere to the practice a period of time.

I prefer voice... I've done a lot of typing!

I'd love to practice my speaking too... here are my details:

nicholas.cripps (skype and g-mail)

nick_cripps@hotmail.com

I, personally, think typing isn't that useful for my situation. Whatever way you go about it, you're typing pinyin and I'm learning characters.

On the other hand, my speaking skills are horrible. Unlike lucky matthiask, I don't have anyone but myself to talk to in Chinese at home. Do you have a Chinese speaker at the house? 

I prefer skype.

actually, typing is more useful to me, as I can do speaking at home ;-)