Dreaming in Chinese

Dreaming in Chinese: Lessons in Life, Love and Mandarin by Deborah Fallows

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 provides the answers to these puzzles and many more, based on her experiences of three years living and travelling in China.

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 intelligible to the non-expert; and her anecdotes and stories illustrate how Westerners do have to think in a fundamentally different way to survive in China.

This is a book to appeal to anyone with an interest in China, be they first time tourists, seasoned business people, or even the idly curious. Accessible, revelatory and entertaining, it will help you discover this extraordinary nation for yourself.

Dreaming in Chinese - About the Author

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.