Intermediate vocab

[DrZero]

Hi everybody. I need your ideas on what new materials I should get.

As I have mentioned here before, I think I am a high beginner or low intermediate when it comes to speaking (and I know very few characters.) As far as words, I probably know about 1,000 to 1,200. I have a Chinese wife and her friends always come over and they speak Mandarin, so my listening comprehension is probably fair enough, all things considered. (I can often know what they're talking about, although I certainly won't catch every word and sometimes I will be lost completely. Kind of like listening to a radio station that fades in and out.)

My wife wants us to go to China in about five weeks. I want to increase my vocabulary quickly, by about 800 or 1,000 words. The problem is, I think I have gotten about all of the vocabulary I can get out of my beginner materials. I was reviewing Intergrated Chinese Level 1 tonight, and it doesn't have much left to offer.

Any ideas on books or other resources I can get to teach me lots of useful intermediate vocabulary and grammar? I have been resorting to skimming through a Chinese-English dictionary looking for words.

Thanks in advance for any ideas ...