No time to read this? Why not find something to study instead? A1 – Beginner/Elementary | A2 – Pre-Intermediate | B1 – Intermediate | B2 – Upper-Intermediate | C1 – Advanced | C2 – Proficiency | What’s my level? | Italian level test
+++
Buondì.
I’ll start exactly as I did last week:
“For club members who are following the FREE Summer Series of articles with audio, since Sunday there are three more episodes for you to read/listen to. Click this link to find them, then scroll right down to the bottom of the page. The grey non-links are the yet-to-be-published episodes, the red ones are live and ready to read/listen to.”
I have no idea whatsover if more than a handful of people (the ones who emailed to thank me, or commented) ARE actually reading and listening to this year’s summer series, because the company that used to offer basic website stats across our multiple websites decided to stop doing so for free. Pay up or no stats. So I deleted their ‘plug ins’ and now I’m blind.
Ditto with the mailing system we used to use. I could always track how many people opened and read articles like this (sent out by email) until one day I just couldn’t.
The European Union introduced various bits of legislation over the last few years, designed to protect and empower their citizens, which is of course a good thing. But they declined to specify that rules which vast tech companies must now adhere to when interacting with Europeans should not apply in equal measure even to the very smallest, most trivial website or blog.
What Amazon must do, with its billions and billions, with its hundreds of thousands of employees, so too little me must do, on my own.
I don’t have a lot of time for Britain, in general, nor Italy for that matter. Both countries have major flaws. To be fair, so does everywhere, but as a citizen of one and resident of the other I feel entitled to have negative opinions, and express them. Looking on the bright side, neither place has frequent school-shootings..
For instance, Italy is famously complex in terms of bureaucracy, law, employment contracts, basically anything related to money and the way it’s made, then spent, saved, and possibly even taxed.
Which is one of the primary reasons the unemployment rate has been so high for so long. Monopolies and insider knowledge are the default, so it’s hard to get a taxi (the fewer taxis that are permitted, the more taxi drivers earn) but also why new businesses, especially new small businesses, have close to zero chance of getting started.
The complexity of doing business in Italy (and just exisiting) benefits those who already have piles of cash stashed away (usually inherited, sometimes obtained illegally, rarely taxed) by protecting the ‘haves’ from competition from the ‘haven’t yets’.
Complexity also allows professionals (especially accountants, but also lawyers, payroll consultants, health and safety experts, and yes – privacy/data protection consultants) to charge massively more. Moan to an Italian accountant about how stupid and pointless everything is and they’ll agree politely, while struggling to keep a straight face.
In contrast, rainy, depressing Britain tends to take the approach that if you’re just starting out, so have nothing or not much, there are some things you need not bother with.
Sales tax, for instance. In Italy anyone selling goods or a service, from an individual language teacher doing online lessons, to the largest and most powerful companies in the land, has to register for IVA, and endure the associated hassle. In Britain, up to a certain level of sales, there’s no need to bother with VAT, unless you choose to.
Ditto with income tax. In Italy your dog-walking or babysitting side hustle should, strictly-speaking, be properly accounted for and taxed (and accountants COST here, remember) while in the UK you don’t need to worry much about income tax until and unless you earn more than the annual ‘personal allowance’, which is a huge advantage for the young and inexperienced.
Not worrying about tax is also common in Italy, of course. But that’s because of the enormous ‘black economy’.
Personally I totally hate not being ‘in regola’. I pay taxes, obey speed limits, avoid alcohol if I’m driving, and lift the seat before I pee. So it took several decades, and a lot of worry and stress, before I began to adapt to Italian ways.
If it’s complicated, someone is benefiting, but it’s probably not you, or I. On the other hand, they can’t check everyone, right, so why worry?
The penalty for not complying with EU privacy/data protection regulations (which, I stress, I think are a good thing, but are costly and complicated to get right) is something like 4% of your ‘global income’.
That’s enough to scare Google, Apple or Facebook into hiring a few dozen consultants and at least be seen to be behaving better.
But it’s laughable for little bloggers like me – a fine of 4% of my ‘global income’ would barely cover the cost of making one website compliant with ALL of the new rules, let alone the twenty or so that I’m responsible for.
Back when they first introduced the new rules about bulk mailings (you’re likely reading this article as a result of being on a bulk mailing list), a lot of people who had happily and ethically used ‘opt in’ (the recipient has given permission) mailing lists to run their businesses went bust.
To remain ‘in regola’ they would have had to get everyone to subscribe again, and keep track of how and when each one had given permission to be contacted.
Some law-abiding website/mailing list administrators, recognising the impossibility of that task, deleted their WHOLE LISTS, just to be on the safe side. Lights went off all over the internet, from what I could see.
Brexit then snuffed out plenty more British micro-businesses. My wife and I, in Italy, used to buy loads of stuff online from the UK. But no more, as the sales tax and export charges are a nightmare.
You can’t rely on things getting to you, and certainly not on them arriving in a few days, as used to happen. English granny has even had to give up sending birthday and Christmas gifts to her Italian grandchildren, as they’d arrive months after the intended date with a demand to pay customs fees, which exceeded the value of the item.
‘In regola’ is impossible in Italy. So you might do the best you can, though if it’s too costly, too complicated, or no one else appears to be bothering, you just shrug and try not to lose sleep over it, hoping that the gods don’t choose you to make an example of.
By the way, my Italian word of the Week is ‘proroga’.
You can look it up, but basically, suppose the state decides to bring in some necessary but complicated bit of legislation? Which they always do at short notice, accompanied by threats of dire consequences for the non-compliant.
DO NOTHING.
Then, days or weeks after the deadline has passed, you’ll hear there’s been a ‘proroga’, which means you get an extra couple of months.
Later you hear that there was another proroga, and then – when someone has successfully challenged the new law in court – the whole thing gets dropped.
Or if not, then years later there’d be some sort of ‘amnistia’, an amnesty, to encourage people to (finally) comply. Which the wise will also ignore.
Incidentally, this is also a useful approach for language-learners.
We won’t ever be 100% ‘in regola’, and even if we were, the powers-that-be would change something in order that accountants and consultants could continue to grow fat.
We won’t ever know every word (language is constantly changing) or ever be mistake-free (which comes at the cost of effective communication), or ever understand everything (listening doesn’t work like that).
So why worry about it? Be more Italian about your language-learning at least, if not your taxes.
Made a mistake? Didn’t undertand? Garbled your conjugations?
Just shrug, and try not to lose sleep over it.
Alla prossima settimana!
Ebook offers this week: 6 years of ‘Best of EasyItalianNews’
This week’s discounted eBook offer is the newly-published Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2023-2024, along with five previous years of EasyItalianNews memories.
The newest one is 30% off the usual price, the others are 50% discounted. You can find them all here, or click below for whichever year or years you’d like to re-live:
- Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2018-2019
- Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2019-2020
- Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2020-2021
- Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2021-2022
- Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2022-2023
- Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2023-2024
Unlike our usual ‘easy reader’ offers, these titles have no particular level, and no audio (though all the FREE material on the EasyItalianNews.com website does.)
That’s because the purpose of the ‘Best of’ collections is to motivate students of Italian to read, or re-read.
The text is not a story, as most of our ‘easy readers’ are, there’s no beginning or end, just a collecton of articles from the year that we thought you might enjoy seeing again, or for the first time if you’re not a long-term EIN fan.
As with all our ebooks there are free samples available for you to download (on the product pages, see the links above for all years.) So why not download a few and browse?? Just dip in. You’re sure to find something to read.
N.b. EasyItalianNews.com is funded by donations (see who donated here). All past and recent donors should have already been emailed a link to download a free copy of this latest ebook (as a ‘thank you’), so needn’t buy a copy!
That was last week sometime. So if you ever helped the EIN team out with a cash gift, check your emails carefully for a message from info@easyitaliannews.com. If you don’t see it (check your junk/spam, too), write to the EIN team on that address ( info@easyitaliannews.com ).
A selection of articles from EasyItalianNews.com, July 2023 – June 2024
Want to improve your Italian grammar and vocabulary? Then put down that grammar book and those flash cards… Read more instead!
But what should you read?
Well how about simplified news stories from around the world?
L’Australia vota NO al referendum per i diritti degli aborigeni
Aleksej Navalnyj morto in carcere
La Corte internazionale di giustizia ordina a Israele lo stop al genocidio
Culture?
Il canto lirico italiano diventa Patrimonio immateriale dell’Unesco
Disegno da 2 euro in realtà è un Matisse
Bologna, Torre Garisenda a rischio crollo
Or some discoveries?
Fotografata la galassia più antica
Scoperte in Portogallo api mummificate risalenti a 3.000 anni fa
Reperti bellici della Grande guerra emergono dal ghiaccio
Memories of those who are no longer with us, maybe?
E’ morto Matthew Perry, Chandler in ‘Friends’
Morta la cantautrice Sinéad O’Connor
Addio a Paul Auster, autore della Trilogia di New York
What about some of the year’s strangest stories?
L’improbabile colpevole del blackout del sito Veterani americani
Madre partorisce sul Frecciabianca Roma-Torino
Anna Possi, a 99 anni, è la barista più longeva d’Italia
- 160 page, printable .pdf ebook
- Simplified news stories and fascinating features!
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for each topic area
- Suitable for students at any level!
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Topic areas include:
- Art and Music
- Business News
- Climate Emergency
- Curiosities
- Crime
- Discoveries
- Festivities and Anniversaries
- International Affairs
- Italian Politics
- Legislation
- No Longer With Us
- Misadventures
- Natural Disasters
- Society
- Sport
- Technology
Download the Free Sample Chapters! (.pdf)
Remember, this week ‘Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2023-2024‘ is 30% discounted, so just £6.99 rather than the usual ‘easy reader’ ebook price of £9.99! And previous years’ volumes are half price! Find those here.
Buy ‘Best of EasyItalianNews.com 2023-2024‘ just £6.99! | Free Sample Chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
Find more ebooks, organised by level, then type: A1 | A1/A2 | A2 | A2/B1 | B1 | B1/B2 | B2 | B2/C1 | C1 | C1/C2 | C2
How do I access my ebook?
When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?
P.S.
And of course, don’t forget to read/listen to yesterday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news, a fantastic, FREE way to consolidate the grammar and vocabulary you’ve studied, as well as to improve your Italian reading and listening comprehension skills!
Better still, subscribe (also FREE) and so get all three text + audio bulletins of ‘easy’ news emailed to you each week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Just enter your email address on this page and click the confirmation link that will be emailed to you.
Or visit their website and get started immediately!
+++
OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop (ebooks) | Shop (online lessons)
Patricia says
In the list of donors, does donation Easy Italian News refer to our ongoing monthly donation through PayPal?
Daniel says
It does not, Patricia. That would have been someone else. Why they chose that message, I don’t know, but they did, so it was added.
On the ‘Support EasyItalianNews.com’ page ( https://easyitaliannews.com/support-easyitaliannews-com/ ) there’s this text about how we acknowledge donations, if at all:
On the next screen you can select an amount you’d like to give, or personalise the amount of your donation, and also select whether that will be a single or monthly payment.
You should see a box in which you can enter your name or school name for our Many, many thanks to… page (leave it blank if you’d prefer to remain anonymous!)
When donation payment notifcations are received (from Paypal or our bank) each one is checked to see whether the donor has specified a name or message. Most people don’t specify that we should publicly acknowledge their donation, therefore we don’t, out of respect for what we assume to be their wishes (it would look better if we did…)
If there’s no ‘message’ (as in the case for your three recent payments, which I have just checked) then nothing is added to the site.
In the event you or anyone else would like a payment publicly acknowledged with a name or message, we’ll be only happy to add it. Just email. For recurring payments, then maybe cancel the payment and set up another one, remembering to include a name or message in the appropriate box.
Tony Cox says
Hi Daniel
I really enjoyed this article. The message to just shrug and get on with it really resonated with me this morning. I had just had some blood tests results that weren’t showing the improvement I was hoping for and I’m not looking forward to seeing my doc next week. But your advice cheered me up. So thank you for that.
And I want to say how much I’m enjoying the Free Summer Series – having lived through the period I have found the detail of how Italy changed post Second World War quite fascinating. I’m now more disciplined about paying more attention to the words that crop up regularly and finally losing the habit of using the dictionary to understand words that I will never, ever use. About time I hear you mutter.
Thanks for all you and your team do.
Tony
Daniel says
Thanks for the feedback, Tony. It’s always nice to hear that someone values what we do.
Helen says
I always read your emails as I find them encouraging and entertaining. I would reply more often but usually can’t remember how to get onto the reply page. 🙄
I also have lessons via Skype with one of your teachers and would recommend them to everyone.
Daniel says
Many thanks for the feedback, Helen!
N.b. There’s no single ‘reply page’. Each new article published has a comments box at the bottom, but it can only be seen on the website, not from the emailed version. But anyway, you seem to have managed it this time, at least!
Steph says
Just wanted to let you know that I read/ listen to the entire summer history series. I also faithfully read your newsletter. Just so you know, we are out there, appreciating all you offer us. Thank you for your hard work.
Daniel says
Thanks for the feedback, Steph! It’s appreciated.
Lynne F says
Hi Daniel, another history series has come to an end and I ask the same question as you do at the end of each episode “WHAT NOW’
Well first, I need thank all involved in the production of this enjoyable series. The text has provided an excellent summary of main events that have shaped Italian history during this period of time. The links providing depth for those like me who want to explore further.. Breaking each episode into short chunks helped to maintain concentration., particularly when listening. The audio was excellent too very clear and useful for helping with pronunciation
Some of the links involved quite lengthy activities (not a criticism) . Now the autumn days are drawing in I will revisit and watch the videos and challenge myself to read the book “Se questo è un uomo” I will update you how I get on
I need to continue to follow your excellent advice, on reading listening and speaking as much Italian as I can. On reaching the end of this series I can confirm how much my Italian has improved over the last few years by doing this. My vocabulary and comprehension of grammar have improved within a meaningful context but more importantly my abilitiy to communicate in Italian is the winner..
Again a huge thankyou 🙂
Daniel says
You’re more than welcome. And thank YOU for being a regular in leaving feedback and encouragement.
What now for me? (You covered your plans.) The five years of Summer Series material dates from the pandemic, when our main writer needed to earn. It’s taken until now to finish publishing her output, which has been a lot of work at this end.
Regular readers will know that here at OIC HQ we’ve hosted some strays in that time, too, which has been and continues to be a major drain on my time. Also, that I was ill (again) in 2021. So for now, I’m not making any more plans, no new projects, new material or new ebooks. We’re marking time until Bug is rehomed or released back into the wild, after which we’ll take stock…
Actually, like you, I’d like to get back to reading more in the languages I’m learning, and travel again, which hasn’t been possible for the reasons outlined above. I’m thinking a gentle glide from home-zoo-keeping into semi-retirement, with consequently more time and energy for fun things. And learning is fun, right?
Lynne F says
Sounds a sensible plan, Daniel ! and I agree learning is fun:) The above only covers some of our plans, More travel, renovate our new home and garden .Some people think we are crazy at our age and look forward to the arrival of our first grandchild early Spring. I think life will continue to be busy 🙂
Daniel says
Grandchildren! I admit, I’ve rather gone off the idea…