Stuff I learned from one Japanese conversation

Finally, I had the chance to sit down with a native Japanese speaker and spend an hour or so speaking Japanese as best I could, and listening to it. It went better than expected, but far from smoothly. The best thing is that I took notes and apart from hearing all kinds of new words, I also picked up some of the little remarks or adverbial phrases that you won't easily find in written text. They should come in handy for certain unnamed parties who will be visiting Japan shortly. Here's a list:

• は - used after a number and 回 (かい), this means 'at least'. So ６回は = 'at least 6 times'.
• 大事 (だいじ) means 'important', but in written Japanese, you'd sooner see 重要 (じゅうよう).
• ～様になる (～ようになる) is a standing expression, which means 'to reach the point that ~'. My conversation partner used it in the sentence しゃべれる様になる. しゃべれる is a form of しゃべる, to talk or to chat. The form means to be able to talk. Combined with the (～ようになる), it means roughly 'to become proficient', 'to become able to talk' (Japanese in our context).
• たまに (normally written in kana) - once in a while, sometimes
• そんなに - in combination with a negative verb, this means 'not so much'.
• 気づく (きづく）- to notice. The 気 ('mind', 'spirit') is also found in 'genki', 'tenki' (weather), and 'kibun ga warui' (I don't feel well).