sunnylady

I have to take heinz baked beans to Calabria when we take the car down, not for me, but for the michelan starred chef we know there who has a holiday home in the same village!
I also take Robinson fruit drink to dilute, I use also the Lidl multi vit drink and water that down if I run out.
Help, what sort of flour do you buy in Italy to make victoria sponge cakes, I take baking powder, or scones, ie. self raising or plain what is the equivilant?

Lorna at Vicenza

I have always had problems with the flour here as I could only ever find plain - (OO) or yellow flour for polenta. I could never quite get the hang of how much baking poweder to add and often ended up with flat cakes or buns.
I have noticed recently though that some shops now sell more than plain flour - for example ----- farina per pizze -- farina per dolci -
I think the farina per dolci is the same as our self raising flour but I haven't tried it yet as I cheated last time and bout some ready pack victoria sponge mixex in England - just add an egg and water kind of stuff. It was the first time we got beautifully golden and well risen fairy cakes and it was only 15p a packet too !!! my kids had great fun decorating them and then eating them.

TestaRossa

Steak and Kidney pudding, chips and gravy!!

I was really craving a large starbuck's capp this morning! I really needed the vat of coffee rather than the delicate glass! Don't care that it doesn't taste as good as the stuff here, it was a case of size matters!

My two top missed products have just gone back to the UK now the Easter hols have finished, so expect depression for a few days! (OH and son!)

kathrynverona

I can't believe I've just wasted the afternoon going round the supermarket!
I pulled a sickie today to finish some translation work that I'm doing on the side and then found I couldn't cope with the kids and the baby sitter spreading paint all over the house so I went for a brain numbing trip around auchan. If anyone can be bothered to go the one in Bussolengo they've got an english and french section (plus and indian a chinese bit). Don't bother looking for naan breads cos I bought every pack I could find, but they do have marmalade, shortbread, heinz baked beans, jaffa cakes and other bits and bobs.
The flour is a complete pain in the arse over here, all my cakes end up like biscuits and my husbands always come out perfect. You can by self raising flour but it doesn't seem to work in my oven - must be faulty or something!
Must try harder......

at the moment I'm missing fish and chips with scraps wrapped in newspaper and a white bap on the side to make a chip buttie....

Lorna at Vicenza

Hey Kathryn - get on with your translation ha!
I've just finished one for a PR firm - would you believe how many ways there are to describe real silver pens !!!! I've heard some bull$hit over here in my time but don't accept work from PR agencies - they really come out with a lot of flouncy, poetical and downright soppy stuff. Give me a humorous add with a witty punch-line any day !!!!

kathrynverona

mine was 8 pages of legal kak about computer crime, didn't understand a word of it, even asked the hubby for help and his response was "it was written by a tw*t", .....not much use.....
I made a big mistake of sending out my cv the other week offering my services and now I'm taking sickies and not going to bed. Do you work with a P.Iva? I'm contemplating opening one but a bit scared of being shafted down the line with loads of costs....

Lorna at Vicenza

Don't have a partita IVA as you can legally earn up to 3.000 euro per tax year without having to declare it - and frankly - I've never taken on enough translation work to get to 3.000 euro - it would bore the tits off me. I'm sick of reading 50 words twice over just to discover that what it really means is a simple - "press the red button to shut down the machine" !!!!!!

duffer

I'm very interested in this translation work on the side seeing as baby is on his way and we'll be spending more time indoors. I'm thinking we can earn a few bob now and again - just enough to pay for the nappies! Any recommendations on how to go about it? Are there any websites we can post our CV or advert?

kathrynverona

I just got a load of e-mail adresses form the yellow pages and sent my cv, it was a bit slow to start with so I sent some more. Now I can't keep up. The only prob is that it's a second job so you need to fill out tax returns and pay the difference each year. Plus you can only earn 5,000 euros per year as a freelance without p.iva, anything more and you need to open one. Don't expect to earn a fortune but it's a way of improving your italian as well.

duffer

I don't think I'll be anywhere near that amount. It would really be to earn some spare cash for bits and bobs rather than giving English lessons. Do you complete the tax returns yourself or do you have an accountant?

Another question - how can I charge? per paragraph, per hour, per page, etc. I suppose you need to issue an invoice yes?

kathrynverona

I usually charge per page (1500 characters) and I have to issue a receipt. It's very simple. The only problem is the tax return, Iwouldn't have a clue how to do my own so I go to a local firm who do it for me, you get tax rebates on all sors (mortgage interest, nursery expences, medicine) so it worth it in the end. Costs around 100 euros

Beep

As a matter of interest how long were you in Italy(or learning Italian) before you were fluent.........I can understand a hell of a lot more than I can speak .....face to face Iìm alright but I still hate talking on the phone unless I have everything thought out beforehand

I cant wait for the day when I can pick up the phone without having to worry

kathrynverona

it took me about 6 months to understand what people were saying but another 6 months before I could express myself. It felt like being trapped inside my body but not being able to communicate. I still dislike using the phone but just think sod it. I regularly have bad days when things don't come out right, I just explain that I've got my english head on (anyone remember worzel gummage?)

Beep

I went for a job interview one day and I must have had my 'english head ' on because it was like my brain had been wiped out of any Italian that had been in there.....I was mortified!!!Im sure the man in the agency thought I was mad.

duffer

Excellent thanks for the great tips. The OH and I have in the past, as favours, completed some company and departmental presentations in English which we could include as part of a portfolio.

I like the idea of charging per page - what is a good rate? €50, €75? Do you have a price list?