We are looking to have the roof of our stone farmhouse repaired. It is actually quite sound in most respects, but it is subject to tile slippage in high winds so leaks do pop up.
I'm sorry if this has been covered before, but could someone just confirm whether one can successfully call 112 from a UK mobile? We're starting to rent out our house and don't have a landline, so guests would have to use their own mobiles.Thanks
Lots of lovely ideas here but I would take issue with the idea that meat is better in Italy than in the UK! Don't get me wrong, I'm a carnivore through and through. But I would choose organic meat wherever possible, and from what I understand, meat production in Italy is mainly based on heavily intensive methods. My parents live and France and they are having similar difficulties buying organic meat. They have to drive a long way to get it. Their local farmer's lambs never set foot outside before they are slaughtered, whereas you're pretty safe with even officially non-organic lamb in the UK as sheep are always outside. I have struggled to find organic meat, even in the vast supermarket an hour from our house in Emilia Romagna, whereas in pretty much any English supermarket there will be an organic section, however small.As for veal, I would never touch white veal in Italy, only British rose veal, which is grass-fed and meets high welfare standards (I don't eat it generally anyway, but if I did I would most definitely want to know its provenance). Italian veal is produced in conditions that would be illegal in the UK.http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters/veal.shtmlI'm afraid other European countries don't care about animal welfare anywhere near much as we Brits do.
As a young and idealistic 18-year-old spending a year in Florence, I used to listen to Lucio all the time! He didn't seem to translate into 'cool' when I returned to the UK, however... Now I remember why I liked him so much. Great for learning Italian, too!
I'd still be grateful if anyone knows the answer, though - obviously I can't try it out, but I don't want people actually to be in the midst of a crisis and find out at that point that you can't call emergency services from a UK mobile...
Hi Valentina, I hope you don't mind my correcting you but I seem to remember that you were happy to make this a two-way thing, so we can learn the intricacies of Italian while you finetune your English... I expect it was just a slip of the finger but the past tense of 'to fly' is 'flew', not 'flied'! (although of course, we all knew exactly what you meant so there would be no red pen).
My 18 month old son has just brought an Italian tick home with him... although I know they CAN be very nasty, let's not scaremonger too much! His fell out before I had a chance to get it removed by the doctor (couldn't face doing it myself in case I did it wrong). I took him to the doctor anyway and she said most of the time, there's absolutely no problem. Obviously there is a small risk of Lyme disease or other nasty infections, but this is relatively rare.
That says it all, really! British teachers aren't allowed to correct things any more anyway - as long as the student has managed to get his/her point across, it doesn't matter how littered with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes it is... don't start me on this!I heard my 4-year-old daughter's nursery teacher telling her she's not allowed to say 'win' today. I rest my case.
Yes, Postmac, I was going to say the same thing. Many of us haven't ever even really been taught English grammar so don't always know what transative/intransative verbs are - I didn't really go into some of the finer details until A-level or even degree level Italian grammar. As a general rule, I was taught that verbs of movement take 'essere'. There are relatively few verbs that take essere, so I found it easier to remember those. They're pretty much the same verbs that take etre in French (arrivare, partire, essere, andare, cadere, uscire, venire, scendere, entrare, diventare, crescere, morire, nascere...). Obviously this is not a comprehensive list but it's a start! And obviously, it's not as simple as that, as Valentina has indicated, as there are reflexive verbs, and some verbs can be transitive and intransitive... But that's something that comes with time and practice and by listening to natives (thanks Valentina) doing it properly!
Narrow down the search before you go by doing lots and lots of research in advance. Get a map, work out how far you want to be from an airport, the coast, a village or town, the mountains/ski areas etc etc. Also consider earthquake zones, temperatures etc. How hot can you take it? Do you want to be in a relatively 'undiscovered' area or have lots of Brits around? By answering all these questions, they will already be able to pinpoint quite a precise area. Only then should they start window shopping or getting in touch with estate agents. Stick to your budget unless it is flexible (but don't let the estate agents know it's flexible!). Be critical - it's easy to get caught up with the romance of it all but be realistic about costs. And be sure to find out about all the legal costs in advance - some of these took us by surprise and should have been worked into our original budget.
Comments posted
Lots of lovely ideas here but I would take issue with the idea that meat is better in Italy than in the UK! Don't get me wrong, I'm a carnivore through and through. But I would choose organic meat wherever possible, and from what I understand, meat production in Italy is mainly based on heavily intensive methods. My parents live and France and they are having similar difficulties buying organic meat. They have to drive a long way to get it. Their local farmer's lambs never set foot outside before they are slaughtered, whereas you're pretty safe with even officially non-organic lamb in the UK as sheep are always outside. I have struggled to find organic meat, even in the vast supermarket an hour from our house in Emilia Romagna, whereas in pretty much any English supermarket there will be an organic section, however small.As for veal, I would never touch white veal in Italy, only British rose veal, which is grass-fed and meets high welfare standards (I don't eat it generally anyway, but if I did I would most definitely want to know its provenance). Italian veal is produced in conditions that would be illegal in the UK.http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/food_matters/veal.shtmlI'm afraid other European countries don't care about animal welfare anywhere near much as we Brits do.
As a young and idealistic 18-year-old spending a year in Florence, I used to listen to Lucio all the time! He didn't seem to translate into 'cool' when I returned to the UK, however... Now I remember why I liked him so much. Great for learning Italian, too!
Thank you Alan h, I can send clients to my house with a clear conscience!
I'd still be grateful if anyone knows the answer, though - obviously I can't try it out, but I don't want people actually to be in the midst of a crisis and find out at that point that you can't call emergency services from a UK mobile...
Hi Valentina, I hope you don't mind my correcting you but I seem to remember that you were happy to make this a two-way thing, so we can learn the intricacies of Italian while you finetune your English... I expect it was just a slip of the finger but the past tense of 'to fly' is 'flew', not 'flied'! (although of course, we all knew exactly what you meant so there would be no red pen).
My 18 month old son has just brought an Italian tick home with him... although I know they CAN be very nasty, let's not scaremonger too much! His fell out before I had a chance to get it removed by the doctor (couldn't face doing it myself in case I did it wrong). I took him to the doctor anyway and she said most of the time, there's absolutely no problem. Obviously there is a small risk of Lyme disease or other nasty infections, but this is relatively rare.
That says it all, really! British teachers aren't allowed to correct things any more anyway - as long as the student has managed to get his/her point across, it doesn't matter how littered with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes it is... don't start me on this!I heard my 4-year-old daughter's nursery teacher telling her she's not allowed to say 'win' today. I rest my case.
Yes, Postmac, I was going to say the same thing. Many of us haven't ever even really been taught English grammar so don't always know what transative/intransative verbs are - I didn't really go into some of the finer details until A-level or even degree level Italian grammar. As a general rule, I was taught that verbs of movement take 'essere'. There are relatively few verbs that take essere, so I found it easier to remember those. They're pretty much the same verbs that take etre in French (arrivare, partire, essere, andare, cadere, uscire, venire, scendere, entrare, diventare, crescere, morire, nascere...). Obviously this is not a comprehensive list but it's a start! And obviously, it's not as simple as that, as Valentina has indicated, as there are reflexive verbs, and some verbs can be transitive and intransitive... But that's something that comes with time and practice and by listening to natives (thanks Valentina) doing it properly!
Hi Danjoe,I've sent you a private message regarding the above subject.
Narrow down the search before you go by doing lots and lots of research in advance. Get a map, work out how far you want to be from an airport, the coast, a village or town, the mountains/ski areas etc etc. Also consider earthquake zones, temperatures etc. How hot can you take it? Do you want to be in a relatively 'undiscovered' area or have lots of Brits around? By answering all these questions, they will already be able to pinpoint quite a precise area. Only then should they start window shopping or getting in touch with estate agents. Stick to your budget unless it is flexible (but don't let the estate agents know it's flexible!). Be critical - it's easy to get caught up with the romance of it all but be realistic about costs. And be sure to find out about all the legal costs in advance - some of these took us by surprise and should have been worked into our original budget.