Can you get Italian TV? Listening really is just practise. The TV is a good way. Or try watching a film you know well on DVD by switching the language into Italian. Some will let you put Italian subtitles on at the same time. I can't say it is a relaxing way to watch a film but it helped me. I have just signed up for the language course on http://www.italicon.it/ They have an offer where you can buy all 4 courses for €260. I can do them anywhere (a big bonus for me). There is online support and lots of video and audio segments. My OH is going to start at level one which is all written in English. The thing I really liked is that they don't slow the audio down. I think it's a bad move to listen to audio where they speak very slowly. What are you supposed to do in real life where people speak at normal speed???! I haven't started yet but I want to ultimately do their online degree which looks very interesting and is awarded byt the University of Pisa. I work so I can't attend classes (not that there are any round here anyway). If anyone is also doing this course maybe we could start a group and give each other some help.
I can't remember who made the point now (sorry) but it is different being here as a single woman to being here as a single man. When I was here on my own for a while, there were many things I felt uncomfortable doing by myself that I wouldn't have thought twice about in London. I am not a particularly shy or introverted person (as those who know me would agree!) but I had some very uncomfortable experiences. I had a group of men driving around trying to find where I lived as they had heard there was a single English woman living alone. What they'd have done when they found me I have no idea but it is not a nice feeling. I also got propositioned by married neighbours who thought I'd want them to come in (with their friend!) for "drinks". Somehow I can't see a group of Italian women searching the countryside looking for a single English man so it is an experience that a single foreign man living here would not have experienced. What was very interesting was after I remarried (here in Amandola), people's attitudes to me changed dramatically. Neighbours that had barely raised an eyebrow before were suddenly very friendly and the distinctly sleezy guy in the supermarket stopped being sleezy and was just pleasant. We found it quite amusing but we both noticed the difference.
Round our way (also in the mountains with planty of snow) the best vehicle is a Panda 4x4 or a Suzuki jeep. They get everywhere and are light. That is really important when it is snowy and icy. We had a Toyota Hilux 4x4 which was all the other requirements you describe (except economical!) but in the icy weather it was so heavy it slid around and frightened the pants off me If I was buying for the purposes you describe, I'd buy a Renault Kangoo 4 x 4 (cheaper) or a Volvo AWD estate or a Subaru Forrester (dearer).
Thanks Ram. We all get there in the end. I'm not counting my chickens just yet until I get the required document with it's obligatory stamp Some English kids in the school here weren't allowed by the teacher to paint the Easter Eggs because they were Anglicani! They came home in tears.
This is the response I received today: /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}"Gentile signora Penelopele sue osservazioni sono corrette.Abbiamo parlato questa mattina con la dr.ssa Saldari che ha convenuto che, secondo quanto previsto dalla Direttiva del Ministero della Salute DG RUERI/II/12712 11.3b del 3 agosto 2007, Lei ha diritto all'iscrizione obbligatoria al SSN a tempo indeterminato. Tale diritto cessa qualora venga a mancare il diritto al soggiorno permanente.Siamo fiduciosi che il problema possa essere risolto.Cordiali saluti Dott.ssa Patrizia Carletti Osservatorio Diseguaglianze/Ars Marche" For those with less Italian, it basically says I am right and she has got the director at Ascoli ASUR office to agree I am entitled to a permanent inscription in the health service on the basis of my permanent residency. The only time this inscription is lost is if i lose my permanent residency. I have written back to ask what I do now. Once she has told me, I will aks what other people in my situation should do and then it should hoepfully be sorted for everybody!
I agree Adriatica. I've had people try to tell me we're not in the EU because we don't have the euro. I thought "I'll give it one more try" before I resort to letters and I tried to ring the person who wrote the guidance document from the Marche Region. I got through to her and she is the head of equality. She immediately said, yes we're entitled to permanent inscription to the health service without producing any other documents. She did write the document after all!! The only thing that rang a little alarm bell was that she wasn't sure we were entitled to a GP. I'm 99% sure we are but she did at least say she would double check that. She asked for all the details in an email and my contact details. I mentioned that I am not the only person with this problem and offered to send her everyone else's details if she wanted them. I now await her response. I'm probably crazy to say this but I feel cautiously optimistic. Only cautiously - it is Italy!!
Thnaks Badger (and Adriatica). Please get your wife to send the letter off too - when I post it up. The more of us that get on their case the better! Also, if they refer to you or your wife as "stranieri" please correct them. We are "cittadine comunitari". Stranieri in the terms of the health cover are "extra-comunitari" (i.e. outside the EU) and I wouldn;t be surprised if this is where all the confusion is coming from - not that I can get them to even consider that of course. Everything in writing is definitely our only option now. My husband's is up for renewal in November so we'll have that argument there too.
Comments posted
Can you get Italian TV? Listening really is just practise. The TV is a good way. Or try watching a film you know well on DVD by switching the language into Italian. Some will let you put Italian subtitles on at the same time. I can't say it is a relaxing way to watch a film
but it helped me. I have just signed up for the language course on http://www.italicon.it/ They have an offer where you can buy all 4 courses for €260. I can do them anywhere (a big bonus for me). There is online support and lots of video and audio segments. My OH is going to start at level one which is all written in English. The thing I really liked is that they don't slow the audio down. I think it's a bad move to listen to audio where they speak very slowly. What are you supposed to do in real life where people speak at normal speed???! I haven't started yet but I want to ultimately do their online degree which looks very interesting and is awarded byt the University of Pisa. I work so I can't attend classes (not that there are any round here anyway). If anyone is also doing this course maybe we could start a group and give each other some help.
Are you offering?
I can't remember who made the point now (sorry) but it is different being here as a single woman to being here as a single man. When I was here on my own for a while, there were many things I felt uncomfortable doing by myself that I wouldn't have thought twice about in London. I am not a particularly shy or introverted person (as those who know me would agree!) but I had some very uncomfortable experiences. I had a group of men driving around trying to find where I lived as they had heard there was a single English woman living alone. What they'd have done when they found me I have no idea but it is not a nice feeling. I also got propositioned by married neighbours who thought I'd want them to come in (with their friend!) for "drinks". Somehow I can't see a group of Italian women searching the countryside looking for a single English man so it is an experience that a single foreign man living here would not have experienced. What was very interesting was after I remarried (here in Amandola), people's attitudes to me changed dramatically. Neighbours that had barely raised an eyebrow before were suddenly very friendly and the distinctly sleezy guy in the supermarket stopped being sleezy and was just pleasant. We found it quite amusing but we both noticed the difference.
I've got a very good one in Force. Dr Bassetti. PM or call me for his phone number.
Round our way (also in the mountains with planty of snow) the best vehicle is a Panda 4x4 or a Suzuki jeep. They get everywhere and are light. That is really important when it is snowy and icy. We had a Toyota Hilux 4x4 which was all the other requirements you describe (except economical!) but in the icy weather it was so heavy it slid around and frightened the pants off me
If I was buying for the purposes you describe, I'd buy a Renault Kangoo 4 x 4 (cheaper) or a Volvo AWD estate or a Subaru Forrester (dearer).
Thanks Ram. We all get there in the end. I'm not counting my chickens just yet until I get the required document with it's obligatory stamp
Some English kids in the school here weren't allowed by the teacher to paint the Easter Eggs because they were Anglicani! They came home in tears.
This is the response I received today: /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}"Gentile signora Penelope le sue osservazioni sono corrette.Abbiamo parlato questa mattina con la dr.ssa Saldari che ha convenuto che, secondo quanto previsto dalla Direttiva del Ministero della Salute DG RUERI/II/12712 11.3b del 3 agosto 2007, Lei ha diritto all'iscrizione obbligatoria al SSN a tempo indeterminato. Tale diritto cessa qualora venga a mancare il diritto al soggiorno permanente. Siamo fiduciosi che il problema possa essere risolto. Cordiali saluti Dott.ssa Patrizia Carletti Osservatorio Diseguaglianze/Ars Marche" For those with less Italian, it basically says I am right and she has got the director at Ascoli ASUR office to agree I am entitled to a permanent inscription in the health service on the basis of my permanent residency. The only time this inscription is lost is if i lose my permanent residency. I have written back to ask what I do now. Once she has told me, I will aks what other people in my situation should do and then it should hoepfully be sorted for everybody!
I agree Adriatica. I've had people try to tell me we're not in the EU because we don't have the euro. I thought "I'll give it one more try" before I resort to letters and I tried to ring the person who wrote the guidance document from the Marche Region. I got through to her and she is the head of equality. She immediately said, yes we're entitled to permanent inscription to the health service without producing any other documents. She did write the document after all!! The only thing that rang a little alarm bell was that she wasn't sure we were entitled to a GP. I'm 99% sure we are but she did at least say she would double check that. She asked for all the details in an email and my contact details. I mentioned that I am not the only person with this problem and offered to send her everyone else's details if she wanted them. I now await her response. I'm probably crazy to say this but I feel cautiously optimistic. Only cautiously - it is Italy!!
This is such a nightmare isn't it? Have a look at this post: http://www.italymag.co.uk/community/post/circulars-and-decrees-demonstra... You might need to join the Marche Healthcare group but that is eay - it's an open group.
Thnaks Badger (and Adriatica). Please get your wife to send the letter off too - when I post it up. The more of us that get on their case the better! Also, if they refer to you or your wife as "stranieri" please correct them. We are "cittadine comunitari". Stranieri in the terms of the health cover are "extra-comunitari" (i.e. outside the EU) and I wouldn;t be surprised if this is where all the confusion is coming from - not that I can get them to even consider that of course. Everything in writing is definitely our only option now. My husband's is up for renewal in November so we'll have that argument there too.