There's this guy called Anthony Lauder and he's got a small website about Czech, called anthonylauder.com. While it's about his learning Czech, it really applies to any language. Do read it; it's not too much text and it might be very useful. He talks about "connectors" or "language glue". Really useful stuff. Do you think we could get a list going on useful connectors in Mandarin? On his website, just click on the "Connectors starter pack" to get some inspiration on what kind of phrases are needed.

I'd contribute myself, but as I've never actually used my Mandarin, I don't really feel qualified. If someone who has some speaking experience could add some commonly used connectors, that'd be great. I think this is just what a lot of us need to get conversations flowing in Mandarin.

I entered my 2nd speech contest as a way to force me to focus on improving my fluency and pronunciation.

Take a look at me here.  I'm the American with the sun glasses and hat.

http://www.rti.com.tw/ajax/Activity2010Ajax/Foreigner2010VoteE.aspx

Chinese Podders, I could use your support on this one.  Come take a look and tell me what you think of entering speech contests as a learning tool.