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 4
Are there any sandwiches?
Spanish (Spain) · A1 beginner · 10 minutes · No signup
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.
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Episode 1
A1 beginner · 11 minutes
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Episode 2
A1 beginner · 11 minutes
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Episode 3
A1 beginner · 10 minutes
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Episode 4
Are there any sandwiches?
A1 beginner · 10 minutes · Playing on this page
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Episode 5
A1 beginner · 11 minutes
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Spanish (Spain)
Episodes 1–5 out now · more coming soon
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Episodes 1–5 out now · more coming soon
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Episodes 1–5 out now · more coming soon
How the lesson works
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1
Hear the scene
Sam walks into a small neighbourhood shop in the late afternoon, ready for la merienda. Lucía is behind the counter. First, you just listen for how many apples there are.
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2
Understand the useful phrases
Lucía explains each phrase in English, only as much as helps your next try.
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3
Copy them out loud
Say each phrase in the pause after you hear it. Copy the sound and rhythm before worrying about grammar.
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4
Try your answers
Ask for sandwiches, cheese and bread from memory with hay, then play the customer in the shop. 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 greet someone in a shop, ask if there is anything for an afternoon snack, ask if they have something, ask what’s inside, and check a detail with ¿no?
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
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Buenas. ¿Hay algo para merendar?
Hello. Is there anything for an afternoon snack?
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¿Hay bocadillos?
Are there any sandwiches?
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¿Y qué hay dentro?
And what's inside?
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Perfecto.
Perfect.
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También hay dos manzanas, ¿no?
There are two apples too, right?
Phrases you’ll recognize
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Hay pan, queso y fruta.
There's bread, cheese and fruit.
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Solo hay uno, pero es enorme.
There's only one, but it's enormous.
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Dentro hay queso y tomate.
Inside, there's cheese and tomato.
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No, hay tres. Una está detrás del bocadillo.
No, there are three. One is behind the sandwich.
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 4. Choose a time to play from there. “Your turn” marks a pause for you to speak; Spanish is in bold.
Welcome
Sam: It's late afternoon. Lunch was hours ago, and dinner is hours away.
Lucía: In Spain, that gap has a name: la merienda, the afternoon snack. Welcome back to Copycat Cafe. I'm Lucía.
Sam: And I'm Sam. I'm hungry.
Lucía: Sam and I are AI-generated voices. Today you'll learn to ask what a shop has, with one very useful little word, and to understand a short answer. 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 3. If this is your first episode, just listen. You're in a café. Say: I need a table and a chair.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Necesito una mesa y una silla. I need a table and a chair. Today Sam needs something to eat.
In the shop
Lucía: Here's the whole scene. Sam walks into a small neighbourhood shop. I'm behind the counter. Listen for one thing: how many apples are there?
Sam: Buenas. ¿Hay algo para merendar?
Lucía: Hay pan, queso y fruta.
Sam: ¿Hay bocadillos?
Lucía: Solo hay uno, pero es enorme.
Sam: ¿Y qué hay dentro?
Lucía: Dentro hay queso y tomate.
Sam: Perfecto. También hay dos manzanas, ¿no?
Lucía: No, hay tres. Una está detrás del bocadillo.
Sam: Entonces tengo merienda para todo el día.
Lucía: So, how many apples? Three. Sam thought there were two. The third one was hiding behind the sandwich.
Sam: It was a very large sandwich. A perfectly reasonable hiding place.
A snack, please
Lucía: Sam walks in and says: buenas. It's a short, friendly hello, very common in Spain when you walk into a shop or a bar. Copy it: buenas.
Your turn · 4-second pause
Lucía: Then he asks: ¿hay algo para merendar? Is there anything for an afternoon snack? Merendar means to have la merienda. Algo means something, or anything. Copy the end first: para merendar.
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: Now the question: ¿hay algo para merendar?
Your turn · 5.5-second pause
Lucía: And the whole line: buenas. ¿Hay algo para merendar?
Your turn · 6.5-second pause
One word: hay
Lucía: The key word today is hay. The h is silent, so it sounds like the English word eye. Hay means there is, and it also means there are. One word for both. I answer Sam: hay pan, queso y fruta. There's bread, cheese and fruit. Copy it: hay pan, queso y fruta.
Your turn · 5.5-second pause
Lucía: With a question in your voice, hay asks: is there? Are there? Sam asks: ¿hay bocadillos? Are there any sandwiches? In Spain, a bocadillo is a sandwich made with a crusty bread roll. Copy it: ¿hay bocadillos?
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: I tell him: solo hay uno, pero es enorme. There's only one, but it's enormous. Hay again, this time for just one.
Sam: The last sandwich. No pressure.
What's inside?
Lucía: Sam asks: ¿y qué hay dentro? And what's inside? Qué means what, and dentro means inside. Copy it: ¿y qué hay dentro?
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: I answer: dentro hay queso y tomate. Inside, there's cheese and tomato. A quick check. What's in the sandwich? Say it in English.
Your turn · 4-second pause
Lucía: Cheese and tomato. Queso y tomate. Then Sam says: perfecto. Perfect. Copy it: perfecto.
Your turn · 4-second pause
Two or three?
Lucía: And he checks: también hay dos manzanas, ¿no? There are two apples too, right? Manzanas means apples. The little ¿no? at the end asks for agreement, like right? Copy it: también hay dos manzanas, ¿no?
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: I tell him: no, hay tres. Una está detrás del bocadillo. No, there are three. One is behind the sandwich. Detrás, behind, is from the chair behind the door in Episode 3. Del is de and el squeezed together. And Sam says: entonces tengo merienda para todo el día. Then I have snacks for the whole day.
Sam: That's not greed. That's planning.
Ask about anything
Lucía: Now the switch. To ask about something else, keep hay and change the word after it. ¿Hay bocadillos? Are there any sandwiches? ¿Hay fruta? Is there any fruit? Copy it: ¿hay fruta?
Your turn · 4-second pause
Lucía: Now without hearing the Spanish first. Ask if there are any sandwiches.
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Hay bocadillos? Now ask if there's any cheese.
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Hay queso? Now ask if there's any bread.
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Hay pan? Now the shopkeeper shows you the last sandwich. Ask what's inside.
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Y qué hay dentro?
Your turn in the shop
Lucía: Let's put it together. You're the customer. I'm behind the counter. Sam will stay quiet. Say hello, and ask if there's anything for an afternoon snack.
Your turn · 7-second pause
Lucía: Hay pan, queso y fruta.
Lucía: Ask if there are any sandwiches.
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: Solo hay uno, pero es enorme.
Lucía: Ask what's inside.
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: Dentro hay queso y tomate.
Lucía: Say perfect, and check that there are two apples too.
Your turn · 7-second pause
Lucía: No, hay tres. Una está detrás del bocadillo.
Lucía: Here's one version of your part. Buenas. ¿Hay algo para merendar? ¿Hay bocadillos? ¿Y qué hay dentro? Perfecto. También hay dos manzanas, ¿no? If you missed a line, that's fine. You'll hear them all again in the next scene.
Listen again
Lucía: Here's the original scene again. No explanations this time. Notice how much you recognise.
Sam: Buenas. ¿Hay algo para merendar?
Lucía: Hay pan, queso y fruta.
Sam: ¿Hay bocadillos?
Lucía: Solo hay uno, pero es enorme.
Sam: ¿Y qué hay dentro?
Lucía: Dentro hay queso y tomate.
Sam: Perfecto. También hay dos manzanas, ¿no?
Lucía: No, hay tres. Una está detrás del bocadillo.
Sam: Entonces tengo merienda para todo el día.
Another afternoon
Lucía: Another afternoon, the same shop. The sandwich is gone. This time, say hello and ask if there's any fruit.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Sí, hay manzanas.
Lucía: Check that there's cheese too, the same way Sam checked the apples.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Sí, hay queso.
Lucía: Tell me that's perfect.
Your turn · 3.5-second pause
Lucía: Here's one version: buenas. ¿Hay fruta? También hay queso, ¿no? Perfecto.
Sam: Apples and cheese. A sensible merienda. I'm almost disappointed.
Keep the phrases
Lucía: One last line from memory. You walk into a shop in the afternoon. Say hello, and ask if there's anything for a snack.
Your turn · 6.5-second pause
Lucía: Buenas. ¿Hay algo para merendar? Today you used one word, hay, to ask what a shop has: ¿hay bocadillos?, ¿hay fruta?, ¿y qué hay dentro?, and you heard it in the answers too. Come back and use the gaps again whenever you like. In the next episode, Sam is on a street in Madrid, looking for the metro, holding a piece of paper he doesn't quite understand. 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 Last Sandwich. ¡Hasta luego!
Sam: ¡Hasta luego!
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About this episode
Episode 4 of the free Copycat Cafe Spanish audio course. It’s adapted from “The Last Sandwich”, lesson 4 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 Last Sandwich” uses the same scene.
See how Copycat works