I learned Chinese in 2001 and after that I haven't had much practice speaking it but I think that knowing the characters has actually kept me from forgetting it

I learned Chinese in 2001 and after that I haven't had much practice speaking it but I think that knowing the characters has actually kept me from forgetting it completely. It's nice to have a conversational partner but lacking that, practicing characters and reading is a way to practice the language without having a partner. It takes some effort but if you live somewhere where you have Chinese characters around (e.g. LA San Gabriel Valley, or many Chinese restaurants) or use some Chinese social media (e.g. WeChat) you usually have some examples that you can plug into Google Translate (by swiping the character shape--which isn't strict about stroke order), then plug that into mdbg.net for decent dictionary type translations and concordances. It is a good way to spend time waiting for Chinese food at a restaurant. If you share your activity with your table it's not as anti-social as run-of-the-mill playing with your phone.