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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 5

Numbers at the market

Italian · A1 beginner · 10 minutes · No signup

Download MP3 (7.5 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

  4. Episode 4

    Monday coffee rescue

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes

  5. Episode 5

    Numbers at the market

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes · Playing on this page

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

    Luca shops at a market in Italy, and Sam plays the vendor. First, you just listen for how much the tomatoes cost.

  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 the price from memory, swap one kilo for two, then play the customer. 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 ask how much things cost, understand a price per kilo, say how much you'll take, and order two of something politely.

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

Phrases you’ll say

  • Buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori?

    Good morning, how much are the tomatoes?

  • Va bene, prendo un chilo.

    All right, I'll take a kilo.

  • Va bene, prendo due chili.

    All right, I'll take two kilos.

  • Vorrei due zucchine, per favore.

    I'd like two zucchini, please.

  • Due zucchine. Sono solo per me.

    Two zucchini. They're just for me.

  • È enorme! Va bene, prendo quella.

    It's enormous! All right, I'll take that one.

Phrases you’ll recognize

  • Tre euro al chilo.

    Three euros a kilo.

  • Altro? Oggi le zucchine costano due euro al chilo.

    Anything else? Zucchini are two euros a kilo today.

  • Due zucchine o due chili?

    Two zucchini or two kilos?

  • Allora questa conta come due.

    Then this one counts as two.

Listening with your screen off

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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 5. Choose a time to play from there. “Your turn” marks a pause for you to speak; Italian is in bold.

Welcome

Sam: Today I'm not the customer. I'm selling vegetables.

Luca: And I'm buying them. I'm Luca, and this is Copycat Cafe.

Sam: And I'm Sam. Fresh tomatoes, very reasonable.

Luca: Sam and I are AI-generated voices. Today we're at a market in Italy. You'll ask how much something costs, catch a price with the numbers one, two and three, and say how much you'll take. 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. You meet a colleague. Say: hi, how are you?

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Luca: Ciao, come stai?

Sam: Sto bene, grazie. Business is good.

Luca: Today, I'm the customer, and Sam is the vendor.

Numbers at the market

Luca: Here's the whole scene. Just listen for one thing: how much are the tomatoes?

Luca: Buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori?

Sam: Tre euro al chilo.

Luca: Va bene, prendo un chilo.

Sam: Altro? Oggi le zucchine costano due euro al chilo.

Luca: Vorrei due zucchine, per favore.

Sam: Due zucchine o due chili?

Luca: Due zucchine. Sono solo per me.

Sam: Allora questa conta come due.

Luca: È enorme! Va bene, prendo quella.

Ask the price

Sam: Three euros a kilo for tomatoes, and one huge zucchini that counts as two. I'm good at this job.

Luca: Very good. Let's start with the question. Quanto costano? How much are they? Copy it: quanto costano.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: I pomodori, the tomatoes. Costano, they cost, because tomatoes is plural. Now the whole question: buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori?

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Luca: Once more. Buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori?

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Catch the price

Luca: Sam answers: tre euro al chilo. Three euros a kilo. Tre, three. Al chilo, a kilo. Copy it: tre euro al chilo.

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Luca: Here are the first three numbers. Uno, due, tre. One, two, three. Copy them: uno, due, tre.

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Luca: Here's a quick check. Tre euro al chilo. How many euros for a kilo of tomatoes? Say the number in English.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: Three. Tre. Tre euro al chilo, three euros a kilo.

Say how much

Luca: Then I decide: va bene, prendo un chilo. All right, I'll take a kilo. You know va bene from the station, and prendo from the bar: I'll take. Copy it: va bene, prendo un chilo.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Luca: Now change the amount. Due chili, two kilos. Say: all right, I'll take two kilos.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Luca: Va bene, prendo due chili. Un chilo, due chili.

Order two

Luca: Sam keeps selling: altro? Oggi le zucchine costano due euro al chilo. Anything else? Zucchini are two euros a kilo today. Altro, anything else. You only need to catch that one.

Luca: So I ask: vorrei due zucchine, per favore. I'd like two zucchini, please. Vorrei, the polite I'd like from the bar. Copy it: vorrei due zucchine, per favore.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Luca: Sam checks: due zucchine o due chili? Here's a quick check. Due zucchine o due chili? What two things is Sam choosing between? Say it in English.

Your turn · 5-second pause

They're just for me

Luca: Two zucchini, or two kilos. And I answer: due zucchine. Sono solo per me. Two zucchini. They're just for me. In your first episode, sono meant I am. Here it means they are: the zucchini are just for me. Copy it: sono solo per me.

Your turn · 5-second pause

Luca: Now the whole answer: due zucchine. Sono solo per me.

Your turn · 6-second pause

Take that one

Luca: Then Sam holds one up: allora questa conta come due. Then this one counts as two. Just let that one wash over you.

Sam: It really is a very big zucchini.

Luca: And I say: è enorme! Va bene, prendo quella. It's enormous! All right, I'll take that one. At the bar it was prendo quello, for a cornetto. A zucchina takes quella. Copy it: è enorme!

Your turn · 4-second pause

Luca: Now: va bene, prendo quella.

Your turn · 5-second pause

At the market

Luca: Let's put it together. You're the customer. Sam is the vendor. I'll give you the prompts. Say good morning, and ask how much the tomatoes are.

Your turn · 7-second pause

Sam: Tre euro al chilo.

Luca: Say all right, you'll take a kilo.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Sam: Altro? Oggi le zucchine costano due euro al chilo.

Luca: Say you'd like two zucchini, please.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Sam: Due zucchine o due chili?

Luca: Say two zucchini. Then say they're just for me.

Your turn · 7-second pause

Sam: Allora questa conta come due.

Luca: Say it's enormous! All right, you'll take that one.

Your turn · 8.5-second pause

Luca: Here's one version of your part. Buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori? Va bene, prendo un chilo. Vorrei due zucchine, per favore. Due zucchine. Sono solo per me. È enorme! Va bene, prendo quella. 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.

Luca: Buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori?

Sam: Tre euro al chilo.

Luca: Va bene, prendo un chilo.

Sam: Altro? Oggi le zucchine costano due euro al chilo.

Luca: Vorrei due zucchine, per favore.

Sam: Due zucchine o due chili?

Luca: Due zucchine. Sono solo per me.

Sam: Allora questa conta come due.

Luca: È enorme! Va bene, prendo quella.

Your turn

Luca: Now it's your shopping. Sam is still the vendor. The prompts are shorter this time, and one thing changes: you're cooking for friends, so you want two kilos of tomatoes. Start by asking the price.

Your turn · 7-second pause

Sam: Tre euro al chilo.

Luca: Now: all right, two kilos.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Sam: Altro? Oggi le zucchine costano due euro al chilo.

Luca: Now order two zucchini, politely.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Sam: Due zucchine o due chili?

Luca: Now: two zucchini, they're just for me.

Your turn · 7-second pause

Sam: Allora questa conta come due.

Luca: Now: it's enormous, and you'll take that one.

Your turn · 8.5-second pause

Luca: Here's one version of your part: Buongiorno, quanto costano i pomodori? Va bene, prendo due chili. Vorrei due zucchine, per favore. Due zucchine. Sono solo per me. È enorme! Va bene, prendo quella.

Sam: Two kilos of tomatoes and one giant zucchini. A good day at the market.

Keep the phrases

Luca: One last line from memory. You're at a market, pointing at tomatoes. Ask: how much are the tomatoes?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Luca: Quanto costano i pomodori? Keep quanto costano to ask the price of things like tomatoes, and prendo to say what you'll take. You've now had five scenes: a first day at work, a bar, a station, a Monday at work and a market. Come back to any of them and try the gaps again. This is the free Copycat Cafe audio course. The optional app has today's matching lesson, Numbers at the market. A presto!

Sam: A presto! Mind the zucchini on your way out.

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About this episode

Episode 5 of the free Copycat Cafe Italian audio course. It’s adapted from “Numbers at the market”, lesson 5 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, “Numbers at the market” uses the same scene.

See how Copycat works