A New Home in Berlin

Vocabulary

Video: A New Home in Berlin

Transcript

Valerio Bassan has left Milan to make a new start in Berlin. He’s just one of many young Italians leaving their country.

“We are fleeing Italy at the moment because there aren’t any opportunities in Italy anymore for them. So basically when you see that your first salary is 1,000 euros and you can’t afford a house or buy a new car or just live because it’s so expensive at the moment, you are just forced to leave the country.”

Here in Berlin, he’s his own boss.

With a degree in journalism under his belt, he runs the online magazine “Ill Mitte”, which offers local news for the Italian community here.
After studying in Milan, he left his hometown for the German capital.

So basically everyday I start work at six am, seven am at home. So I do a press review of what Berlin newspapers are talking about. So I make selections everyday and I try to write about that.”

This Berlin cafe also belongs to a young Italian. He’s invested close to 20,000 euros into the business.

His product: Milanese lifestyle. He just opened his shop a few months ago, but can’t afford to hire any staff yet.

“I love Milan, and now I also love Berlin. So I said to myself, ‘This is a good place to work.” said Marco Cllegaro, owner of Cantine Sant’Ambroeus. “Milan has become too expensive and too complicated.”

Too complicated and too expensive.

That’s also why Samatha Biancardi left Milan. She opened her shop in Berlin a year ago. Italian fashion is popular in Germany. She pays 500 euros rent for the floor space. That doesn’t even compare with what she would have to pay back home in Milan.

“There, my shop would be just one of many. And the situation there isn’t all that good at the moment, which makes it hard to go out on your own and say, ‘I’ll open up a little shop’.”

In business, in Berlin; instead of out of work in Milan. All three are determined to succeed in their fields, and set up a new life for themselves here. The current situation and the outlook in Germany are promising.

Questions

1. Why are many young people leaving Milan? Many young people are leaving Milan because………

2. “Here in Berlin, he’s his own boss.” What does this mean?

3. What does Valerio do? What is Valerio’s job?

4. Marco invested exactly 20,000 euros in his cafe. Yes or no?

5. Who works in Marco’s cafe?

6. What does he say about Milan?

7. It’s easier to start and run a business in Berlin than in Milan. It’s more difficult to open up a shop in Milan than in Berlin. True or false? Why is it easier?
 
 
A. Is it easy or difficult to find work or start a business in your city?

B. Do you plan on migrating to another city or country?

C. Do you have friends who have emigrated? What do they say?

Email this page