• The Open University

Italian for Beginners 5: Time To Travel

In the fifth Italian for Beginners course, learn to ask for information on trains and buy train tickets.

54,169 enrolled on this course

Italian for Beginners 5: Time To Travel

54,169 enrolled on this course

  • 4 weeks

  • 4 hours per week

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Introductory level

Find out more about how to join this course

  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    4 hours
  • 100% online

    How it works
  • Unlimited subscription

    $244.99 for a whole yearLearn more

This free online course is the fifth of six courses. It will introduce you to the language that you need to:

  • talk about arrival and departure times;
  • enquire about train times;
  • buy a train ticket;
  • ask for information;
  • talk about journey times and distances.

Learn Italian to travel, ask about trains and buy tickets

During the four weeks of the course, you will learn the vocabulary and phrases you need to travel around Italy, such as getting information about train times, buying a ticket or asking how long the journey is.

You will learn to use si (yes) to say how things are done and learn the verbs dovere (to have to), potere (can) and volere (to want). You will continue to develop your language skills, and practice asking for information in Italian. And you will find out about local transport and the rail network and about the geography of Italy.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Train arrivals and departures

    • A photograph of a clock.

      Talking about arrival and departure times

      In this activity you will learn to talk about travel times and ask about arrival and departure times, using the 12-hour and the 24-hour clock.

    • Trains in Italy

      In this activity you will find out about trains in Italy.

    • Checking availability of trains

      In this activity you learn the vocabulary necessary to talk about arrival and departure information, how to ask about the availability of trains to certain destinations and to use c’è (‘there is’) and ci sono (‘there are’).

    • Using prepositions to talk about arrival and departure times

      In this activity you do more practice on arrival and departure times and learn about some prepositions needed for talking about travel.

    • Over to you

      Learning another language requires personal effort. Here you can find some guidance to get the most out of what you learned this week.

  • Week 2

    Buying a ticket

    • Stazione Centrale. Biglietteria

      Buying a train ticket

      This activity presents some key vocabulary related to train tickets and some useful phrases and information that will help you when using public transport in Italy.

    • Talking about prices

      In this activity, you will learn how to ask the price and practise using and understanding numbers.

    • Local transport

      In this activity you look at information on how local transport systems, such as bus, tram and metro, work in Italy. You will also learn how to pronounce pairs of vowels in words such as autobus and euro.

    • A Wordle image, made from the words: 'sabato', 'giovedi', 'martedi', 'venerdi', 'mercoledi', 'domenica', 'lunedi'.

      Days of the week

      In this activity you revise the days of the week and learn how to ask for information about travelling on certain days.

    • Over to you

      Learning another language requires personal effort. Here you can find some guidance to get the most out of what you learned this week.

  • Week 3

    Asking for information

    • A Wordle image, made from the words: 'volete', 'vogliamo', 'vuole', 'voglio', 'vogliono', and 'vuoi'.

      Asking for something

      In this activity you will learn how to ask for something using vorrei and voglio.

    • A Wordle image, made from the words: 'può', 'potete', 'posso', 'vuole', 'vuoi', 'vogliamo', 'possiamo', 'voglio', 'vogliono', 'possono', 'volete', 'puoi'.

      Asking for information

      In this section you learn how to find out details about a journey using the verbs dovere and potere.

    • Saying how things are done

      In this activity you will learn how to use si + verb, to say how things are done.

    • Getting around in a city

      In this activity you learn about Milan and how to obtain information about getting around in a city.

    • Over to you

      Learning a language requires effort. Here is some guidance to get the most out of what you learned this week.

  • Week 4

    Distances and journey times

    • Saying how long a journey takes

      In this activity you will first take a look at Italian geography and then learn to ask how long a journey takes by different means of transport.

    • A Wordle image, made from the words: 'mille', 'novecento', 'settecento', 'seicento', 'cento', duecento', 'quattrocento', 'cinquecento', 'ottocento', 'trecento'.

      High numbers

      In this activity you are going to learn numbers from 100 to 1000 and practise pronouncing long words.

    • Expressing distances between places

      In this activity you will learn how to express distance between places.

    • Over to you

      Learning another language requires personal effort. Here you can find some guidance to get the most out of what you learned this week.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Develop skills in basic Italian for interacting in common communicative situations
  • Engage in simple communication in Italian
  • Apply the language introduced to talk about travel, journey times and distances
  • Apply the language introduced to say how things are done and to ask for information

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at people with little prior knowledge of Italian, who want to learn the basic language and find out about Italy and its regions and culture. The course assumes that you have already studied the previous four courses in the Italian for Beginners program. This course is taught through English.

Who will you learn with?

Anna  Calvi

OU associate lecturer and materials writer. I have written materials on business communication, Academic English and Italian.

Anna Proudfoot

Lecturer in Italian at the Open University, author of Italian course books. I'm Scottish but learnt Italian in Italy when young. I love singing, dancing and travelling around Italy.

Who developed the course?

The Open University

The Open University

As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.

  • Established

    1969
  • Location

    Milton Keynes, UK
  • World ranking

    Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$244.99 for a whole year

Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Tests to boost your learning
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$79/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Tests to boost your learning
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 12 Mar 2025

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

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