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Learn languages by copying everyday conversations.

Free Spanish audio course (Spain)

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

Is this table free?

Spanish (Spain) · A1 beginner · 10 minutes · No signup

Download MP3 (7.4 MB) Read the transcript

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

Voices are AI-generated. Lucía, 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

    Meeting your language partner

    A1 beginner · 11 minutes

  2. Episode 2

    Going up?

    A1 beginner · 11 minutes

  3. Episode 3

    Is this table free?

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes · Playing on this page

  4. Episode 4

    Are there any sandwiches?

    A1 beginner · 10 minutes

  5. Episode 5

    Where is the metro?

    A1 beginner · 11 minutes

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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 walks into a busy café in Madrid, looking for somewhere to sit. Lucía is working there. First, you just listen for where the chair is.

  2. 2

    Understand the useful phrases

    Lucía 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

    Say what you need from memory, switch from a chair to a stool, then play the customer in the café. 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 if a table or a stool is free, say you need a table and a chair, check which chair someone means, and agree with vale.

Level A1. Written for adult English speakers starting Spanish, with the Spanish of Spain. You don’t need any Spanish to begin.

Phrases you’ll say

  • Perdona, ¿está libre esta mesa?

    Excuse me, is this table free?

  • Necesito una mesa y una silla.

    I need a table and a chair.

  • ¿La silla pequeña?

    The small chair?

  • Vale. La mesa es perfecta.

    OK. The table is perfect.

  • ¿Está libre este taburete?

    Is this stool free?

Phrases you’ll recognize

  • La mesa está libre; el taburete, no.

    The table is free; the stool isn't.

  • Hay una silla detrás de la puerta.

    There's a chair behind the door.

  • Sí. Es una silla, no un trono.

    Yes. It's a chair, not a throne.

  • Y el taburete ahora también está libre.

    And now the stool is free too.

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; Spanish is in bold.

Welcome

Sam: Today I'm in a busy café. My only goal is somewhere to sit.

Lucía: Welcome back to Copycat Cafe. I'm Lucía.

Sam: And I'm Sam.

Lucía: Sam and I are AI-generated voices. Today you'll learn to find a seat in a café in Spain: ask if a table is free, and say what you need. Listen first. Copy the sound. Then try the words for yourself. We'll leave space for you to speak.

Lucía: If you miss an answer, that's fine. Join in again at the next one. If you're driving, keep your attention on the road and skip the speaking exercises.

Warm-up

Lucía: First, a warm-up from Episode 2. If this is your first episode, just listen. You're holding a lift door for a neighbour. Say excuse me, and ask if they're going up.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Lucía: Perdona, ¿subes? Excuse me, are you going up? Perdona is the friendly excuse me. Today it gets Sam a table. You'll also want gracias, thank you, from the same episode.

In the café

Lucía: Here's the whole scene. A busy café in Madrid. Sam is a customer, and I'm working there. Listen for one thing: where is the chair?

Sam: Perdona, ¿está libre esta mesa?

Lucía: La mesa está libre; el taburete, no.

Sam: Necesito una mesa y una silla.

Lucía: Hay una silla detrás de la puerta.

Sam: ¿La silla pequeña?

Lucía: Sí. Es una silla, no un trono.

Sam: Vale. La mesa es perfecta.

Lucía: Y el taburete ahora también está libre.

Sam: Demasiado tarde: ya quiero la silla.

Lucía: So, where was the chair? Behind the door. Detrás de la puerta.

Sam: For the record, I asked about its size. I never asked for a throne.

Is this table free?

Lucía: Sam starts with perdona, and then asks: ¿está libre esta mesa? Is this table free? Libre means free as in available, not free of charge. Mesa is table, and esta mesa is this table. Copy that part: esta mesa.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Lucía: Now the question, with your voice rising at the end: ¿está libre esta mesa?

Your turn · 5-second pause

Lucía: And the whole line: perdona, ¿está libre esta mesa?

Your turn · 6-second pause

Lucía: I answer: la mesa está libre; el taburete, no. The table is free; the stool isn't. A taburete is a stool.

Sam: So, table yes, stool no.

Say what you need

Lucía: Sam says: necesito una mesa y una silla. I need a table and a chair. Necesito means I need. Copy it: necesito.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Lucía: Una silla is a chair. Necesito una silla.

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Lucía: Now the whole line: necesito una mesa y una silla.

Your turn · 6-second pause

Which team?

Lucía: Listen to the little words in front of each thing. La mesa, una silla. El taburete, un trono. Every Spanish noun belongs to one of two teams, feminine or masculine, and that little word usually tells you which. La and una go with one team. El and un go with the other. So learn each new noun with its little word: la silla, el taburete. Words that describe a noun join its team too: la silla pequeña, the small chair.

Behind the door

Lucía: Now, where's the chair? I say: hay una silla detrás de la puerta. There's a chair behind the door. You only need to understand that one today. Sam checks: ¿la silla pequeña? The small chair? Copy his question: ¿la silla pequeña?

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Lucía: And I tell him: sí. Es una silla, no un trono. Yes. It's a chair, not a throne. Then Sam agrees, using Spain's everyday word for OK. If you heard Episode 1, say it. If not, just listen.

Your turn · 4-second pause

Lucía: Vale. Sam says: vale. La mesa es perfecta. OK. The table is perfect. Perfecta ends in a, because mesa is on the la team. Copy it: vale, la mesa es perfecta.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Lucía: Then I tell him: y el taburete ahora también está libre. And now the stool is free too. And Sam says: demasiado tarde: ya quiero la silla. Too late: now I want the chair.

Sam: I'd grown attached to it. It was small, but it was mine.

Change one word

Lucía: Now a small switch. Necesito una silla means I need a chair. For a stool, the little word changes too: necesito un taburete. Copy it: necesito un taburete.

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Lucía: The word for this changes with the team as well. Esta mesa, this table. Este taburete, this stool. So, is this stool free? ¿Está libre este taburete? Copy it.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Lucía: Now without hearing the Spanish first. Say: I need a chair.

Your turn · 5-second pause

Lucía: Necesito una silla. Now say: I need a table.

Your turn · 5-second pause

Lucía: Necesito una mesa. Now ask if this table is free.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Lucía: ¿Está libre esta mesa? And ask if this stool is free.

Your turn · 5.5-second pause

Lucía: ¿Está libre este taburete?

Your turn in the café

Lucía: Let's put it together. You're the customer. I'm working in the café. Sam will stay quiet. Say excuse me, and ask if this table is free.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Lucía: La mesa está libre; el taburete, no.

Lucía: Tell me you need a table and a chair.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Lucía: Hay una silla detrás de la puerta.

Lucía: Ask me: the small chair?

Your turn · 4.5-second pause

Lucía: Sí. Es una silla, no un trono.

Lucía: Now agree, and say the table is perfect.

Your turn · 6-second pause

Lucía: Here's one version of your part. Perdona, ¿está libre esta mesa? Necesito una mesa y una silla. ¿La silla pequeña? Vale. La mesa es perfecta. If you missed a line, that's fine. You'll hear all of them again in the next scene.

Listen again

Lucía: Here's the original scene again. No explanations this time. Notice how much you recognise.

Sam: Perdona, ¿está libre esta mesa?

Lucía: La mesa está libre; el taburete, no.

Sam: Necesito una mesa y una silla.

Lucía: Hay una silla detrás de la puerta.

Sam: ¿La silla pequeña?

Lucía: Sí. Es una silla, no un trono.

Sam: Vale. La mesa es perfecta.

Lucía: Y el taburete ahora también está libre.

Sam: Demasiado tarde: ya quiero la silla.

Another day

Lucía: Another day, the same café. This time you want the stool. Say excuse me, and ask if this stool is free.

Your turn · 6.5-second pause

Lucía: Sí, está libre.

Lucía: Agree, and thank me.

Your turn · 5-second pause

Lucía: Here's one version: perdona, ¿está libre este taburete? Vale, gracias.

Sam: A seat with no negotiations. I'm improving.

Keep the phrases

Lucía: One last line from memory. You walk into a café and see an empty table. Say excuse me, and ask if this table is free.

Your turn · 6-second pause

Lucía: Perdona, ¿está libre esta mesa? Today you asked if a table was free, said what you need with necesito, and met the little words la, una, el and un, which usually tell you a noun's team. Come back and use the gaps again whenever you like. In the next episode, Sam walks into a small shop, hungry, in the middle of the afternoon. This is the free Copycat Cafe audio course. The optional paid app adds pronunciation feedback and conversations that respond to you. Today's matching lesson is The Chair Behind the Door. ¡Hasta luego!

Sam: ¡Hasta luego!

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About this episode

Episode 3 of the free Copycat Cafe Spanish audio course. It’s adapted from “The Chair Behind the Door”, lesson 3 of our Spanish (Spain) course.

Lucía 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, “The Chair Behind the Door” uses the same scene.

See how Copycat works