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Learn languages by copying everyday conversations.

Free Italian audio course

Learn by copying everyday conversations.

Hear a short scene, understand the useful phrases, copy them out loud, then try your own answers in the pauses.

Episode 3

At the train station

Italian · A1 beginner · 11 minutes · No signup

Download MP3 (7.7 MB) Read the transcript

Free to play, download, and read, with no account or email needed.

Voices are AI-generated. Luca, the teacher, and Sam, the learner, are fictional characters.

All episodes

Take them in order: each episode builds on the phrases before it. Every one is free to play, download, and read.

  1. Episode 1

    First day at the café

    A1 beginner · 9 minutes

  2. Episode 2

    At the bar

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes

  3. Episode 3

    At the train station

    A1 beginner · 11 minutes · Playing on this page

  4. Episode 4

    Monday coffee rescue

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes

  5. Episode 5

    Numbers at the market

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes

More episodes are coming

Each free audio course will follow the 200 everyday conversations of our app, from A1 to B2. Episodes come out one at a time.

Episodes 1 to 5 are out in every language. See all free audio courses.

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How the lesson works

  1. 1

    Hear the scene

    Sam is a traveller at a train station in Italy, and Luca plays the station worker. First, you just listen for where the café is.

  2. 2

    Understand the useful phrases

    Luca explains each phrase in English, only as much as helps your next try.

  3. 3

    Copy them out loud

    Say each phrase in the pause after you hear it. Copy the sound and rhythm before worrying about grammar.

  4. 4

    Try your answers

    Ask for the platform from memory, swap in the bathroom, then play the traveller. A spoken answer follows every pause, so you can compare.

Missed an answer? Keep listening. The words come back, and you don’t need to touch the screen once the episode is playing.

After this episode

You can stop a stranger politely, ask where one thing is, understand short answers like on the right, and say you're absent-minded today.

Level A1. Written for adult English speakers starting Italian. You don’t need any Italian to begin.

Phrases you’ll say

  • Scusi, dov'è il binario quattro?

    Excuse me, where is platform four?

  • Scusi, dov'è il bagno?

    Excuse me, where's the bathroom?

  • E il bar dov'è?

    And where's the café?

  • Ah! Vorrei anche un caffè.

    Oh! I'd also like a coffee.

  • Va bene. Ma il mio ombrello dov'è?

    All right. But where's my umbrella?

  • Perfetto. Oggi sono proprio distratta.

    Perfect. I'm really absent-minded today. (A man says distratto.)

Phrases you’ll recognize

  • È a destra, vicino al bar.

    It's on the right, near the café.

  • È dietro di lei.

    It's behind you.

  • Prima il treno: è già al binario.

    The train first: it's already at the platform.

  • È nella sua mano.

    It's in your hand.

Listening with your screen off

The download is the most reliable way. Save the MP3 and play it offline in any audio app. Your browser puts it with your other downloads (on iPhone, in the Files app).

Playing from this page can keep going when you lock your phone, depending on your phone and browser. Some pause when you switch apps or close the tab. If yours does, use the download.

The speaking pauses are optional. If you’re driving, keep your attention on the road: just listen, or skip the speaking parts. The episode says the same.

Transcript

Every word of Episode 3. Choose a time to play from there. “Your turn” marks a pause for you to speak; Italian is in bold.

Welcome

Sam: A train station. Twenty platforms, one of me, and a train to catch.

Luca: Then you'll need to ask. Welcome back to Copycat Cafe. I'm Luca.

Sam: And I'm Sam. Slightly lost.

Luca: Sam and I are AI-generated voices. Today you'll ask politely where something is at a train station, and catch short answers like on the right. Listen first. Copy the sound. Then try the words for yourself.

Luca: If you miss an answer, let it go. You'll hear it again. If you're driving, keep your attention on the road and skip the speaking exercises.

Luca: First, a quick warm-up from last time. If you're new, just listen. At a bar, say: I'd like an espresso.

Your turn · 5-second pause

Luca: Vorrei un caffè.

Sam: Vorrei un caffè.

Luca: Hold on to vorrei. Sam needs it today, at the worst possible moment.

At the train station

Luca: Here's the whole scene. Sam is a traveller at a station in Italy. I work there. Binario means platform. Just listen for one thing: where is the café?

Sam: Scusi, dov'è il binario quattro?

Luca: È a destra, vicino al bar.

Sam: E il bar dov'è?

Luca: È dietro di lei.

Sam: Ah! Vorrei anche un caffè.

Luca: Prima il treno: è già al binario.

Sam: Va bene. Ma il mio ombrello dov'è?

Luca: È nella sua mano.

Sam: Perfetto. Oggi sono proprio distratta.

Ask where

Sam: The café was behind me the whole time. Of course it was.

Luca: È dietro di lei. It's behind you. Let's start with the question. Sam begins with scusi. Excuse me. Scusi is the polite form, for a stranger or someone at work. Copy it: scusi.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: Then dov'è. Where is. It's dove and è, where and is, run together: dov'è. Copy it.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: Il binario quattro. Platform four. Copy it: il binario quattro.

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Luca: Now the whole question: scusi, dov'è il binario quattro?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: Once more. Scusi, dov'è il binario quattro?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Catch the answer

Luca: The answer is short: è a destra, vicino al bar. It's on the right, near the café. A destra, on the right. Vicino al bar, near the café. You only need to understand these. Here's a quick check. È a destra. Right or left? Say it in English.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: Right. A destra. È a destra, it's on the right.

Change the place

Luca: Now change the place. Il bagno is the bathroom, or the toilet. Il bagno. Copy it.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: Now without hearing the Italian first. Say: excuse me, where's the bathroom?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: Scusi, dov'è il bagno? Same question, new place.

And the café?

Luca: Sam's next question puts the place first: e il bar dov'è? And where's the café? E il bar, and the café. Then dov'è at the end. Copy it: e il bar dov'è?

Your turn · 5-second pause

Luca: The answer: è dietro di lei. It's behind you. Dietro, behind. Lei is the polite you again, like the barista last time. Then Sam remembers what she really wants: ah! Vorrei anche un caffè. Oh! I'd also like a coffee. Anche means also. Copy it: vorrei anche un caffè.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Luca: The station worker is firm: prima il treno: è già al binario. The train first: it's already at the platform. Just let that one go by.

Sam: Coffee later. Fine.

Luca: And that's what Sam says: va bene. All right. Copy it: va bene.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Where's my umbrella?

Luca: Then Sam asks: ma il mio ombrello dov'è? But where's my umbrella? Ma, but. Il mio, my. Ombrello, umbrella. Copy it: ma il mio ombrello dov'è?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: Once more: ma il mio ombrello dov'è?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: The answer: è nella sua mano. It's in your hand. Speaking politely, la sua mano means your hand. Between friends, it would be la tua mano. Here's a quick check. È nella sua mano. Where's the umbrella? Say it in English.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: In your hand. Sam was holding it all along. Nella sua mano.

Sam: In my defence, it was a long morning.

Luca: Sam ends: perfetto. Oggi sono proprio distratta. Perfect. I'm really absent-minded today. Oggi, today. Distratta, absent-minded, with the same endings as nervosa: a woman says distratta, a man says distratto. Copy the version that fits you: oggi sono proprio distratta. Or: oggi sono proprio distratto.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

At the station

Luca: Let's put it together. You're the traveller. I work at the station. In this scene, use the traveller's ending: distratta. Say excuse me, and ask where platform four is.

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: È a destra, vicino al bar.

Luca: Ask: and where's the café?

Your turn · 5-second pause

Luca: È dietro di lei.

Luca: Say: oh! I'd also like a coffee.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Luca: Prima il treno: è già al binario.

Luca: Say all right. Then ask: but where's my umbrella?

Your turn · 7.5-second pause

Luca: È nella sua mano.

Luca: Say perfect, and that you're really absent-minded today.

Your turn · 8.5-second pause

Luca: Here's one version of your part. Scusi, dov'è il binario quattro? E il bar dov'è? Ah! Vorrei anche un caffè. Va bene. Ma il mio ombrello dov'è? Perfetto. Oggi sono proprio distratta. If you missed a step, that's fine. These gaps are for practice, not a test.

Listen again

Luca: Let's hear the original scene again. No explanations this time. Notice which bits you recognise.

Sam: Scusi, dov'è il binario quattro?

Luca: È a destra, vicino al bar.

Sam: E il bar dov'è?

Luca: È dietro di lei.

Sam: Ah! Vorrei anche un caffè.

Luca: Prima il treno: è già al binario.

Sam: Va bene. Ma il mio ombrello dov'è?

Luca: È nella sua mano.

Sam: Perfetto. Oggi sono proprio distratta.

Your turn

Luca: Now it's your station. Sam will stay quiet. This time the prompts are shorter, so more comes from you. And one change: before the train, you need the bathroom. Ask where it is.

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: È a destra, vicino al bar.

Luca: Now ask about the café.

Your turn · 5-second pause

Luca: È dietro di lei.

Luca: Now: a coffee, too.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Luca: Prima il treno: è già al binario.

Luca: Now say all right, and ask where your umbrella is.

Your turn · 7.5-second pause

Luca: È nella sua mano.

Luca: Now: perfect, and absent-minded today.

Your turn · 8.5-second pause

Luca: Here's one version of your part: Scusi, dov'è il bagno? E il bar dov'è? Ah! Vorrei anche un caffè. Va bene. Ma il mio ombrello dov'è? Perfetto. Oggi sono proprio distratta.

Sam: Bathroom, café, umbrella. The train can wait. Apparently it can't.

Keep the phrases

Luca: One last line from memory. You're at the station. Say: excuse me, where's platform four?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: Scusi, dov'è il binario quattro? Keep scusi for a stranger, and dov'è for one thing you can't find, even your umbrella. Next time, it's Monday morning at work, and someone asks how you are. This is the free Copycat Cafe audio course. The optional app has today's matching lesson, At the train station. A presto!

Sam: A presto! Umbrella in hand.

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About this episode

Episode 3 of the free Copycat Cafe Italian audio course. It’s adapted from “At the train station”, lesson 3 of our Italian course.

Luca and Sam are fictional characters with AI-generated voices. The music is original.

Want feedback on your pronunciation?

The free course gives you the phrases, the pauses, and an answer to compare with. It can’t hear you. The Copycat Cafe app is a paid app that adds a pronunciation score on every word you say, and conversations with Copy, your AI conversation partner, that respond to what you actually say. In the app, “At the train station” uses the same scene.

See how Copycat works