Dreaming in Chinese
... and Discovering What Makes a Billion People Tick
Published on 1. April 2010
Book
Hardback
205 pages
978-1-906021-55-9 (ISBN)
Description
Why can't the Chinese say "I love you"? Can you wear pyjamas on the streets of Shanghai? Why is it so difficult to hear Chinese tones? In this charming, original book, Harvard linguist Deborah Fallows draws on her experiences of three years of living and travelling in China to provide the answers to these puzzles and many more. Using her own struggles and triumphs with the study of Mandarin as a guide, Fallows manages to describe the workings of the language in a way that is both intelligible and entertaining. Her anecdotes and stories illustrate how Westerners have to think in a fundamentally different way to survive in China.
Reviews / Votes
"In Dreaming in Chinese, Deb Fallows opens up a window onto Chinese urban life through its notoriously difficult language. A charming and insightful book." Susan Shirk, author of China: Fragile SuperpowerMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Octopus Publishing Group
Illustrations
Illustrations, map
Dimensions
Height: 190 mm
Width: 145 mm
Weight
410 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-906021-55-9 (9781906021559)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Deborah Fallows has lived in Shanghai and Beijing and travelled throughout China with her husband, the writer and journalist James Fallows. She is a Harvard graduate and has a PhD in Linguistics, and is author of A Mother's Work (Houghton Mifflin). When in the US, she and her husband live in Washington DC. They have two sons.