Latest idea

So my latest brainwave for getting over this barrier which I seem to have hit in my Japanese study is to make my way systematically through the Japanese grammar dictionary (どんな時どう使う） A more advanced student than I recommended doing this about a year or so ago, but the size of the book put me off a bit - and I don't think I was really ready at that point for such a commitment. Anyway, the book is big, and the prospect of making my way through every grammar point is daunting. However, I think it's got to be done for those moments in a conversation when you know what you want to say, you know the vocabulary you need to say it, but the damn grammar structure just isn't there. So, I'm going to give it a go. (I'm skipping the level 4 ones as I think I've got them down by now.)

So, over the last couple of days I've looked at:

ないことはない：kind of works like かもしれない
ところだ：I've known this construction for a while, but never use it.
おりに：First time to see this one. Think it works like 際　but perhaps more like an opportunity to do something, have to check on this. Also not sure how common this one is.

My only concern is how deeply you have to study these things to get them to stick. In the past I was all for writing out my own examples, but I've come to the conclusion that this is a bit of a waste of time, so I'm just going to study them, then put them into my Anki flashcard deck (an example sentence of each) to review at intervals later.

How long will this take me? Well, if I do all the level 2 and 3 grammar points, I'm looking at something like six months I reckon. That would take me to the JLPT test next December, which could work out nicely.