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Thu, 11/05/2009 - 05:09

 I agree with Gromit that you should inform yourself at the comune or local school.Here in Loreto (Abruzzo) we have the CTU which offers italian for foreigners for free, if you have residency. I know the same courses are offered in Pescara, at one of the public schools.As something new, here they also offer the Italian proficiency levels CELI level 1-6, which is the Italian equivalent to the Trinity school of English grade 1-6 and recognised at European level. A class costs 30 euro. And then it is a good way of getting some local contacts (allthough italian contacts would be more useful).The first time I went there was an Italian lady of 60+ years who attended the classes to LEARN ITALIAN as she only spoke DIALECT. So funny, because she couldn't help switching over and then 10 beginners were just lost while the teacher tried to stop her and make her switch into "proper" italian.This year I participate in the more "funny" ones like wine tasting and mushroom hunting..

Answer to: Electric
Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:22

Hi,The planning permission is normally granted by the comune, so it depends a bit on their points of view, but I don't think they can really deny it for a private house as long as you integrate it in the building's roof (but depends on shadows, orientation and pendence). You can certainly take the question further, if you want.We just finished installing a PV for a CHURCH in the historical center of the neighbouring village.It did take about one year to get the planning permission because the comune would not give any answer before the  "Sovraintendenza dei beni culturali" had been heard and they only gave the permission on the condition that the panels could not be seen from the underlying "piazza". Instead the PV panels were moved from the church roof onto the roof of the comune's own buildings..:Prices for PV installations have fallen and are now down to 4800 euros/kWp (excl. vat).NOW is the good time to install, nobody knows what happens to the feed-in tariff after 2010...

Answer to: Tax Residency
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 10:26

 As with everything down here: the less you ask, the happier you are going to be.I think that you should be ok as long as you do not ask for residency. Who would know?The question is more if you have health cover etc. because this should come from France.Talk to a commercialista, I've just asked mine and he says that you should stay put and as long as you are registered for residency only in France, you will be ok.If you speak italian and want to know about the work situation in Italy, there are two Italian mailing-lists which I can recommend:LangIT for technical translators andBIBLIT for litterature translators. You can easily find them and sign up on the internet.Not all members are resident in Italy, but they all work to/from Italian, and you can get specific advice from somebody within the same sector.Good luck  

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 10:01

 Ciao,It is impossible to advise you without knowing what you want to do and what type of company setup you want to use.For small businesses, one man companies etc. you can do the accounting yourself or get a tutor from the Agenzia delle Entrate to help you out. But since you're a foreigner I would definitely urge you to find a "commercialista". Ask around in your local area and choose somebody who is already working in with your type of business. Because there is commercialista and commercialista...as with everything in Italy.I pay 720 euro + vat (20%) for mine, but as I said, I'm a small business professional, so the fee is much lower that it would be for a company setup.I issue my own invoices, but he registers them, pays the vat and tax for me (using my bank account, of course), does the annual sector study and prepare and send in my tax declaration. I only go to see him once or twice a year to hand in the originals of my expenses and other documentation needed for tax deduction.Good luck

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 04:12

 Welcome to the group, I'm sure that you will enjoy it. 

Answer to: Olives 2009
Thu, 10/08/2009 - 11:42

 Olive trees normally don't suffer before we get down to - 8 degrees or several days of very cold weather.At least here in Abruzzo we may be talking about a night or two with those tempeatures.We have often pruned in november. I think that if you cut the branches and treat the cuts with a product to heal the "wounds", you'll not run into problems in winter either.A disadvantage of doing it early is that you risk that they grow more new "polloni", succhioni etc. when the trees start vigorating in spring.Regarding male and female: the branches with the very small, round leaves, typically on the "polloni" growing from the trunk when a tree has been cut at ground level are said to be MALE. They will become FEMALE (large, long leaves, and later fruitbearing) after a varying number of years (5-7 when growing from the root, 1-2 years when growing from the small branches in the "chioma").So generally you should say that a fruit-bearing tree as a whole always is female ;-) Ciao   

Answer to: Olives per tree
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 11:25

 I don't believe you find quality oil in the supermarket...not even if it's a DOP.....nothing like the local extra vergin oil just made.There is nothing better than bread with oil and that's our dinner when we bring home the first container from the oil mill.The traditional supermarket oils (Carapelli, Bertolli, Sasso, Carli etc.) are made from only max. 20 % italian olives, the rest comes from cheaper countries like Turkey, Tunisia, Greece and Marocco.What also happens is that every year, the large companies come down to Abruzzo and empty the cisterns of the frantoi buying the remains of last year's harvest at 4-6 euro/litre which they then "mix" with lower quality oil to make their "blends". My frantoiano once told that a famous local brand would buy his stock for 6 euro/litre because of it's low acidity, around 0,35 %. Taking into account that an extra vergin olive oil may have an acidity of 0,8 %, it gives plenty of room for "dilution".Fortunately the new legislation obliges the companies to write the origin of the olives on the labels:Roma, 1 lug. - "E' finalmente entrato in vigore l'obbligo di indicare in etichetta l'origine delle olive impiegate nell'extravergine in tutti i paesi europei, per combattere le truffe e di garantire la trasparenza alle scelte di acquisto dei consumatori che cercano il vero Made in Italy a tavola in tutta Europa". Lo segnala la Coldiretti, in riferimento al Regolamento comunitario N.182 del 6 marzo 2009, che da oggi obbliga ad indicare in etichetta la provenienza delle olive impiegate per produrre l'olio vergine ed extravergine di oliva in commercio. Il vero olio italiano sarà riconoscibile in etichetta da scritte come "ottenuto da olive italiane", "ottenuto da olive coltivate in Italia" o "100 % da olive italiane" mentre "per i miscugli di provenienza diversa sarà specificato - sottolinea la Coldiretti - se si tratta di 'miscele di oli di oliva comunitari', 'miscele di oli di oliva non comunitari' o di 'miscele di oli di oliva comunitari e non comunitari'". Let's hope this brings a bit of clarity.You should also remember, that NONE of the commercial oils writes the harvest year on their bottles.  

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 04:42

 Don't want to confuse you, the Italian school system is:Asilo nido (also called scuola materna) 2 1/2 - 5 1/2-6 years (they do have a pre-school programme, mainly the last year preparing them for the scuola primaria, even though this is not compulsory parents are recommended to let their children participate in the last year in order to prepare them for the elementary school ).

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 04:25

 Hi,The prices cited above, around 10 euros pr. hour is also what I've heard for teaching at language schools.But then again, you might be lucky as english mother tongue teachers are well seen.The best bet would probably be private schools, pre-schools or international schools in your area.I believe that entering the public system is difficult.Ciao 

Thu, 09/24/2009 - 06:33

 Because in Italy you have no means to help throwing people out.Their privacy is always guaranteed and you cannot change the locks etc. as you would do in denmark after the 3rd notice due to the tenant not maintaining his contract/not paying his rent. Often people just stay in the house and wait for the judge's decision which can take years.So you pay people to leave when you need it. Many prefer to leave their house empty instead of renting it out, to save themselves for this type of hazzle.Check your rights with a lawyer before deciding on your next step.Ciao