DWE

Hey all, I'm new to the forum!

I'm 18, and a university student in the UK. When I finish my degree in 3 years time I'd love to move to Italy, to live and work there. I love the UK, but I'd also really enjoy experiencing other cultures etc. My grasp of Italian is rather basic but I have at least 3 years in which to improve it.

So, any advice that you could give me would be greatly appreciated!

Grazie!

indiebird

My biggest piece of advice is to learn the language. There are many places here, even big cities where you will struggle to find people who speak English.

I'm not really sure about the more bureaucratic side of things, and I guess it depends on what you plan to do whist you are here and how long you are going to be here. But I've found that the biggest stumbling block is language or my lack of good Italian.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

lindaf

Hi DWE Good for you - Italy is a great place to live. Are you studying Italian or languages at uni? With 3 years to go, you've got the time to look at where you might want to live - big city, small village, north, south etc, and you could also check out which companies have sites in both the UK and Italy - the possibility then would be an internal transfer

Lorna at Vicenza

Welcome to the forum.
Jobs are not plentiful here so think about what you could do here. Many people began here with a TEFL certificate and taught in private schools until their Italian was good enough to move onto a different job.

DWE

Thanks for the replies guys.

No, I'm not studying Italian or other languages at uni', I'm a biology student. As you said, I have 3 years at least to improve my Italian to a reasonable standard.

I'd be happy to live wherever I can find work in my field. As an EU citizen I have the right to live and work in Italy without loads of bureaucracy, right?

Grazie!

Lorna at Vicenza

Well you don't need a visa or a work permit but as for the rest of the red tape ....

Get a job in the UK first and then have them transfer you to an Italian branch.

lindaf

Yes you have the right to live and work in Italy . . . however Italy reserves the right to hit you with loads and loads of bureaucray at every turn and that's where your determination and patience will come in

37100

Welcome! Just 2 bits of advice. Learn Italian. Then learn more. It's a myth that all Italian's speak English. What sort of degree are you doing?

DWE

Ha ha, cheers guys. I'll look into what you suggested.

And 37100, I study biology.

DaniL

If you look on prospects.ac.uk it has a list of places you can look for jobs in Italy. There seem to be a lot of chemical/biological/electrical engineer jobs at the mo. Of course when you graduate that could all be different. I graduated 5 years ago in fine art, no hope whatsoever of a graduate job for me! Unless I do marketing, yuck!
You can also look at EURES, the "european job mobility portal" for companies with vacancies in Italy. From my own desperate searching most of the jobs seem to be in au pair-ing or teaching English. I did that for 4 years in Japan and don't really want to again, but I don't have much choice with my savings rapidly depleting.
Anyway, good luck with it all! At least you're planning well in advance, unlike me!

DWE

Thank you! I will continue to learn Italian, hopefully it'll be good enough by the time I graduate. If not, well there's plenty of time for me.

Which regions would be the best for me to go to, in your opinion? I love the look of Florence and Abruzzo.

DaniL

I live in Florence and it's beautiful, but expensive. You can get a cheaper flat on the outskirts but the supermarkets will cost more tha in the UK (I think that's all over Italy though). I would say really go wherever you can get work! If you line up a job 1st and it's not the exact place you want to live you can travel around Italy quite easily, the trains go evreywhere and if you drive that's even better.
When you're learning Italian I recommend taking a class or finding an italian to talk to. I learned alone and can read and write ok but struggle with listening. I've found most people don't seem to understand you need them to slow down a bit if you're not native. It might be worth checking at your uni if they do any classes, or the international student society might have some Italians willing to help you.

DWE

Thanks again, I'll look into the IS and see if anyone's there to help! And yeah, I was also looking at taking a class in the Summer, when I've got nothing else to do ha ha! Bit busy at the moment with exams for learning Italian, but that will come back once they're over.

duffer

Just get yrself an Italian bird or boy if you like and you'll soon be coming along nicely.

davehornet6

why didnt i think of that? best advice yet.
just make sure they are loaded and 'dolce vita'