Today I read my short stories with Michiko sensei and feel that I am gradually improving. It feels like the more I read, the more I understand the content of the story and the more I improve on natural pronunciation. I am having some trouble recognizing all of the different kanji characters though. They all look the same to me sometimes but again, the more I practice the more I start distinguishing the kanji characters from each other. I guess you just need to keep practicing and use Japanese on a daily basis.