In preparation for a trip overseas, I looked around for months trying to find a podcast/website that would help me learn Mandarin. So many were complicated to navigate or had really boring lesson plans. Some podcasts had audio that was not clear or were chanted by dull teachers. Some are just lists of vocabulary or phrases that you memorize, without context. A lot of bad teaching. I had almost given up and then found Chinese Learn Online. What a difference! The lessons are brief, memorable and logically arranged. The audio is clear and the narration friendly and very informative.

I have a close Chinese friend who listened to some of the recordings on my IPod - she said go with CLO. She constantly remarks on my great accent which she says is always the biggest problem.
I travel a great deal and knowing Chinese, even a little, can only be helpful when 1/4 to 1/3 of the worlds' population speaks Mandarin Chinese. You are doing a great job - I seem to be going very slowly; however, my friend says I am not but rather she is impressed with where I am and again is most concerned about the correct accent.