Learning Spanish is more than formal study. It is what you pick up every day as you are alert to what is going on around you. Ira Riklis knows this is very much related to awareness training. A wise teacher recommended the use of a little notebook that can be carried at all times by men in the breast pocket of a shirt and by women in a pocket of a skirt, slacks or jacket or in a handbag. The purpose of the little notebook is to jot down all English words that you are curious about as to their Spanish translation or Spanish words that are new to you. This greatly increases one’s vocabulary of Spanish words and tends to make it more contemporary/current. English words can be translated at your leisure and the translations written in your little notebook.

How is this little notebook used further? Ira Riklis knows that in every life there is plenty of waiting time. Whether in a cab, standing in line for the movies or store checkout, sitting in the doctor’s office, etc. If you find yourself in these and other such situations, just pull out your little notebook and review your lists of words. You then can incorporate these “new to you” words into your personal Spanish vocabulary and gradually sound (and be) more and more fluent. You will be amazed at how powerful this technique is for learning.