Speaking and Listening
Although on this site I focus more on techniques to improve reading ability, since in the case of Japanese reading is a greater barrier to fluency than speaking, there are a lot of decent ways to improve your speaking and listening ability even if you aren't in Japan.
My Recommendations
- podcasts for listening practice-- like radio, but on your own schedule, and for free
- audiobooks, of which many classics are available on the net for free
- Skype for speaking practice, if you can avoid the perverts
- Internet radio (external site), a long list of programs; some are just loops of a few songs, but many are the real thing
- Pimsleur CDs for a quick crash course in Japanese if you're just starting