Worksheet 16 · Places and objects
Follow Italian directions inside a building
Answer in brief
Separate vertical movement from left and right turns. Mark each instruction from the traveller's position, not from the position of a person looking at your sketch.
The office route is an invented written sketch task. Do not use it for access or emergency decisions.
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Reference subject: Follow Italian directions inside a building
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For this page: Check the floor and turn words in interactive captions before you label the final door.
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Checked 9 November 2026
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Your task: Draw a route from entrance to a numbered office. You need paper or a notes file. Try the model before you read the explanation. The answer key applies only to this written model.
Choose a viewpoint before drawing
Draw the entrance at the bottom of your page and imagine walking away from it. Mark a stair symbol ahead. Your left and right now belong to the traveller in the sketch. This is essential: a building route can be transcribed correctly but drawn backward when the reader switches between an overhead map and a face-to-face viewpoint.
The model uses piano terra for the ground floor and primo piano for the floor above it. Label both levels explicitly. Do not transfer floor numbers from a different naming system without checking them. This worksheet describes an invented office building and gives no emergency or access route for a real location.
Original written model · Italian / English
The scene on paper
Dall'ingresso, prenda le scale e salga al primo piano.
Show English translation
From the entrance, take the stairs and go up to the first floor.
Poi giri a destra. L'ufficio è la seconda porta a sinistra, il numero quattordici.
Show English translation
Then turn right. The office is the second door on the left, number fourteen.
Non è al piano terra.
Show English translation
It is not on the ground floor.
Make your decision
- Draw two levels and mark the route from entrance to office.
- Label the target by floor, corridor side, door position, and room number.
- Explain why ‘room 2 on the right at ground level’ fails three different clues.
Open the answer key
- Entrance → stairs → first floor → turn right → second door on the left.
- First floor; left side after the turn; second door; room 14.
- The floor is wrong, the target side is wrong, and the room number is wrong. The right turn is a route action, not the door's side.
Split the route into levels
The first instruction sends you upstairs to the first floor. Only after that do you turn right. Draw the turn on the upper-level sketch, not at the ground-floor entrance. A sequence word such as poi keeps the route in order. If your drawing needs you to turn before you climb, compare it with the text rather than trying to make the map look tidy.
The office is the second door on the left after the turn. Count doors from the traveller's new direction. The second door is not necessarily numbered two; in the model it is room 14. Ordinal position and door number are separate facts. Write both so you do not mistake a location clue for the label on the door.
Test the route in reverse
Cover the model and guide a pencil from the entrance to the office. Say each move in English, then compare with the Italian. Next trace the route back without inventing a new exit. This reverse check can expose a misplaced turn, but it is only a way to test your sketch. It does not prove that a real corridor has no other doors or barriers.
For a partner round, remove the office number from the sketch. Read the instructions and ask the partner to mark the target door. If the route allows two answers, add the missing starting orientation rather than blaming their vocabulary. Directions need a shared starting point. A useful clarification is A destra dopo le scale? — ‘Right after the stairs?’ It checks the turn's location.
Now use a video you choose
Choose a building tour with explicit route instructions. Draw levels separately before checking the captions. In Jibber Jabber, our app, word lookup can help with a floor label. For a real building, use signs and staff instructions; do not use this fictional route or a guessed video map for safety decisions.
We make Jibber Jabber. Read the matching Italian guide before you choose app support. A different clip needs its own evidence and answers.
Questions and answers
Is primo piano the ground floor here?
No. It is the floor above piano terra in this model.
Why is a right turn followed by a left-side door?
The turn sets your new direction. Door position is then described from that direction.
Is the second door always room two?
No. Position in a corridor and the printed room number are separate labels.
Sources for this entry
The two levels, turn, second door, and room fourteen are editorial route clues. The key follows them from the traveller's stated starting point. No real floor plan is reproduced. The route check explains the model, not the safety or layout of any actual building.
Continue this reading path
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Cite this entry
Jibber Jabber. “Follow Italian directions inside a building.” Italian Listening Workshop. Updated 9 November 2026. https://italiancomprehensibleinput.com/building-directions/.