A witness account
Develop what happened? through a focused listening itinerary.
Full recording
Listen once without subtitles, then turn on the Italian subtitles (CC) or follow the transcript below.
What did you see?
- Officer: Buonasera, signora. Lei ha visto l’incidente?
Good evening, madam. Did you see the accident?
- Maya: Sì. Erano le sette, ero alla fermata dell’autobus e pioveva molto.
Yes. It was seven o’clock, I was at the bus stop and it was raining hard.
- Officer: Che cosa è successo, esattamente?
What happened, exactly?
- Maya: Un ragazzo attraversava la strada e guardava il telefono. All’improvviso è arrivata una bicicletta.
A young man was crossing the road and looking at his phone. Suddenly a bicycle came along.
- Officer: La bicicletta andava veloce?
Was the bicycle going fast?
- Maya: Sì, abbastanza. Il ciclista ha frenato, ma è caduto davanti al ragazzo.
Yes, quite fast. The cyclist braked, but he fell in front of the young man.
- Officer: Il ciclista si è fatto male?
Did the cyclist get hurt?
- Maya: No, per fortuna. Si è alzato subito, ma era molto arrabbiato.
No, luckily. He got up straight away, but he was very angry.
First and second listening
Listen once for the situation, speakers, purpose, and result. Listen again for the details that support your interpretation.
- Lei ha visto l’incidente?· Did you see the accident?
- Erano le sette, ero alla fermata dell’autobus e pioveva molto.· It was seven o’clock, I was at the bus stop and it was raining hard.
- Un ragazzo attraversava la strada e guardava il telefono.· A young man was crossing the road and looking at his phone.
- All’improvviso è arrivata una bicicletta.· Suddenly a bicycle came along.
Transcript and language check
Listen for 1–3 minutes. Find the situation, the main message, and key details. Play the Italian lines below without reading the English text. Identify the speakers, the setting, and the purpose. Do not stop for every unknown word. Then sort the verbs: imperfetto sets the scene (ero, pioveva, attraversava), passato prossimo moves the story (è arrivata, ha frenato, è caduto).
- Che cosa è successo, esattamente?· What happened, exactly?
- Il ciclista ha frenato, ma è caduto davanti al ragazzo.· The cyclist braked, but he fell in front of the young man.
- Il ciclista si è fatto male?· Did the cyclist get hurt?
- Si è alzato subito, ma era molto arrabbiato.· He got up straight away, but he was very angry.