J+51 : Chinese lessons...

I know have private Chinese lessons!!! This was arranged by the school but took some time to get started.
Twice a week, I have a 2hour lesson (on Tuesdays and Wednesday) with a lady, who had to stop teaching, against her will, because of health issues. She has now recovered, and... Only has me as a student!
She is passionate about teaching, and has more than 20 years experience, however, she looks 25 years old!
I was really impressed by her patience, she made me repeat some syllables 100 times, greeting me with a warm smile of encouragement every time...
And the lessons take place 5minutes (by foot) from my school! I now have books and homework of my own, which I have already finished for the next lesson!
This is truly going to make a difference to my learning of Chinese.
Every night, I listen to tapes and CDs for about 40minutes, after that I set a clock and I read (with the recording) for 10 minutes, and I end with my writing: I copy my weekly list of words 20 times each.
I would say, I approximately master about 300 words. (I'm really not sure!!) ~ yes, I know these words but when I speak them... Here comes my big problem at the moment: no one understands me! Yes, the most difficult part in learning Chinese to my mind is the pronunciation.
For those who don't know, in Chinese, there are 4 different tones, this means four different ways of pronouncing a word.
1- the flat tone (the voice must be high key while making this tone) example: 妈 （mā)
2- the rising tone (voice goes from mid-high pitch to high pitch) example: 麻 (má)
2- the 3d tone (voice starts high pitch, then goes really low, and then back up again: people usually nod the head really slowly to illustrate this tone) example: 马 （mǎ)
4- the last tone, the falling tone (pronounced very fast, and usually louder than other tones) example:骂 （mà)

And OF COURSE, they all have a totally different meaning. So most of the time, what I want to say is very clear in my mind, I try and say it but it produces a very surprising effect on my audience ! Sometimes, they all start laughing, and I have no idea what I have just said...
They are all very encouraging and keep telling me this is normal, I need time...

It does procure immense satisfaction to be able to have basic conversations in the elevator with my neighbors, or the guardian of our building!