Book 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 three years of living and working 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. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in
China, be they first time tourists, seasoned business people, or just
the idly curious. Accessible and revelatory, it will help you discover
this extraordinary nation for yourself.
Deborah Fallows has lived and travelled in China for four years,
studying the language and applying it to survive in daily life. She has
a PhD in Linguistics from Harvard, and is author of A Mother's Work
(Houghton Mifflin). She and her husband, writer James Fallows, have two
sons.
