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 5
Where is the metro?
Spanish (Spain) · A1 beginner · 11 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
A1 beginner · 10 minutes
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Episode 5
Where is the metro?
A1 beginner · 11 minutes · Playing on this page
More episodes are coming
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Episodes 1–5 out now · more coming soon
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Episodes 1–5 out now · more coming soon
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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 is on a street in the centre of Madrid, looking for the metro and holding a piece of paper. Lucía is a local. First, you just listen for what Sam's paper really is.
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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 where the metro and the bakery are from memory, ask the way to another station, then play the visitor on the street. 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 where something is, ask what a station is called, say you don’t know, ask how to get to a station, and say OK 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
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Perdona, ¿dónde está el metro?
Excuse me, where is the metro?
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¿Dónde está la panadería?
Where's the bakery?
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¿Cómo se llama la estación?
What's the station called?
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No sé.
I don't know.
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¿Cómo voy a la estación de Bilbao?
How do I get to Bilbao station?
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Ah, vale.
Oh, OK.
Phrases you’ll recognize
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Está aquí, delante de ti.
It's here, right in front of you.
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La entrada está junto a la panadería.
The entrance is next to the bakery.
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Sol. ¿Qué línea necesitas?
Sol. Which line do you need?
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Con la línea uno. Y ese papel es un mapa, no un menú.
On line one. And that piece of paper is a map, not a menu.
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 5. Choose a time to play from there. “Your turn” marks a pause for you to speak; Spanish is in bold.
Welcome
Sam: I'm on a street in Madrid. I'm looking for the metro, and I have a piece of paper.
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 ask where something is, ask what a station is called, and ask how to get somewhere. 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 4. If this is your first episode, just listen. You're in a shop. Ask if there are any sandwiches.
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Hay bocadillos? Are there any sandwiches? Keep the word bocadillos in mind. It turns up at the very end of today's scene.
On the street
Lucía: Here's the whole scene. A street in the centre of Madrid. Sam is a visitor, and I'm a local. Listen for one thing: what is Sam's piece of paper, really?
Sam: Perdona, ¿dónde está el metro?
Lucía: Está aquí, delante de ti.
Sam: ¿Dónde? Solo veo una panadería y este papel.
Lucía: La entrada está junto a la panadería.
Sam: Ah. ¿Cómo se llama la estación?
Lucía: Sol. ¿Qué línea necesitas?
Sam: No sé. ¿Cómo voy a la estación de Bilbao?
Lucía: Con la línea uno. Y ese papel es un mapa, no un menú.
Sam: Ah, vale. Por eso no hay bocadillos.
Lucía: So, what was the paper? A map. Un mapa, no un menú. A map, not a menu.
Sam: It had a lot of colourful lines and no prices. I should have known.
Where is it?
Lucía: Sam starts with perdona, excuse me, and asks: ¿dónde está el metro? Where's the metro? Dónde means where. Está means is, when you're asking where something is. Copy the start: ¿dónde está?
Your turn · 4-second pause
Lucía: Now: ¿dónde está el metro?
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: And the whole line: perdona, ¿dónde está el metro?
Your turn · 5.5-second pause
Lucía: I answer: está aquí, delante de ti. It's here, right in front of you. Aquí means here. Delante de ti, in front of you.
Sam: Which is exactly where I wasn't looking.
Lucía: Sam says: ¿dónde? Solo veo una panadería y este papel. Where? I can only see a bakery and this piece of paper. A panadería is a bakery; pan is bread. Then I say: la entrada está junto a la panadería. The entrance is next to the bakery. Junto a means next to. A quick check. Where's the entrance? Say it in English.
Your turn · 4-second pause
What's it called?
Lucía: Next to the bakery. Then Sam asks: ¿cómo se llama la estación? What's the station called? In this question, Spanish uses cómo, how, not qué, what. Literally: how does the station call itself? Copy the start: ¿cómo se llama?
Your turn · 4.5-second pause
Lucía: Now the whole question: ¿cómo se llama la estación?
Your turn · 5.5-second pause
Lucía: I tell him: Sol. ¿Qué línea necesitas? Sol. Which line do you need? Sol is a well-known station in the centre of Madrid. Necesitas means you need. If you heard Episode 3, you know necesito, I need. Necesito for me, necesitas for you.
How do I get there?
Lucía: Sam doesn't know. He says: no sé. I don't know. Copy it: no sé.
Your turn · 3.5-second pause
Lucía: And he asks: ¿cómo voy a la estación de Bilbao? How do I get to Bilbao station? Cómo voy means how do I go. Bilbao is a city in the north of Spain, but here it's the name of a metro station in Madrid.
Sam: Good. I wasn't ready for a trip across the country.
Lucía: Copy the question: ¿cómo voy a la estación de Bilbao?
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: I answer: con la línea uno. On line one. Y ese papel es un mapa, no un menú. And that piece of paper is a map, not a menu. And Sam says: ah, vale. Por eso no hay bocadillos. Oh, right. That's why there aren't any sandwiches. No hay means there aren't any, from the shop in Episode 4.
Sam: It was a very disappointing menu.
Change the place
Lucía: Now a switch. Keep ¿dónde está? and change the place after it. ¿Dónde está la estación? Where's the station? ¿Dónde está la panadería? Where's the bakery? Copy it: ¿dónde está la panadería?
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: And ¿cómo voy a...? works for any station. How do I get to Sol station? ¿Cómo voy a la estación de Sol? Copy it.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Now without hearing the Spanish first. Say excuse me, and ask where the metro is.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Perdona, ¿dónde está el metro? Now ask where the bakery is.
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Dónde está la panadería? Now ask what the station is called.
Your turn · 5.5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Cómo se llama la estación? And ask how you get to Sol station.
Your turn · 6.5-second pause
Lucía: ¿Cómo voy a la estación de Sol?
Your turn on the street
Lucía: Let's put it together. You're the visitor. I'm the local. Sam will stay quiet. Say excuse me, and ask where the metro is.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Está aquí, delante de ti.
Lucía: You can't see it. Ask me: where?
Your turn · 3.5-second pause
Lucía: La entrada está junto a la panadería.
Lucía: Say oh, and ask what the station is called.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Sol. ¿Qué línea necesitas?
Lucía: Say you don't know, and ask how you get to Bilbao station.
Your turn · 8-second pause
Lucía: Con la línea uno. Y ese papel es un mapa, no un menú.
Lucía: Now say: oh, OK, the way people say it in Spain.
Your turn · 4-second pause
Lucía: Here's one version of your part. Perdona, ¿dónde está el metro? ¿Dónde? Ah. ¿Cómo se llama la estación? No sé. ¿Cómo voy a la estación de Bilbao? Ah, vale. 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, ¿dónde está el metro?
Lucía: Está aquí, delante de ti.
Sam: ¿Dónde? Solo veo una panadería y este papel.
Lucía: La entrada está junto a la panadería.
Sam: Ah. ¿Cómo se llama la estación?
Lucía: Sol. ¿Qué línea necesitas?
Sam: No sé. ¿Cómo voy a la estación de Bilbao?
Lucía: Con la línea uno. Y ese papel es un mapa, no un menú.
Sam: Ah, vale. Por eso no hay bocadillos.
At Bilbao
Lucía: Now Sam has arrived at Bilbao station, and he's hungry again. You're Sam. I'm a local. Say excuse me, and ask where the bakery is.
Your turn · 6-second pause
Lucía: Está aquí, junto a la entrada.
Lucía: Say OK, and ask if there are any sandwiches.
Your turn · 5-second pause
Lucía: Sí, hay bocadillos.
Lucía: Here's one version of your part: perdona, ¿dónde está la panadería? Vale. ¿Hay bocadillos?
Sam: Real sandwiches, and a map I can read. Today went well.
Keep the phrases
Lucía: One last line from memory. You're on a street in Spain. Say excuse me, and ask where the metro is.
Your turn · 5.5-second pause
Lucía: Perdona, ¿dónde está el metro? Today you asked where something is with ¿dónde está?, asked a name with ¿cómo se llama?, and asked the way with ¿cómo voy a...? You now have five short scenes from everyday Spain: meeting someone, greeting a neighbour, finding a seat, buying a snack, and finding the metro. Replay any of them and use the gaps again whenever you like. More everyday scenes follow in the next episodes. 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 A Metro Map, Not a Menu. ¡Hasta luego!
Sam: ¡Hasta luego! I'm keeping the map.
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About this episode
Episode 5 of the free Copycat Cafe Spanish audio course. It’s adapted from “A Metro Map, Not a Menu”, lesson 5 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, “A Metro Map, Not a Menu” uses the same scene.
See how Copycat works