- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Short Books Ltd (1 April 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1906021554
- ISBN-13: 978-1906021559
- Product Dimensions: 18.6 x 13.6 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 141,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Dreaming in Chinese
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"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 Superpower
Product 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? <P>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. <P>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. <P>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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
sad,
By Mandarin Student (Norway) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dreaming in Chinese: And Discovering What Makes a Billion People Tick (Hardcover)
Short review: shallow and disrespectfulThis book is a real disappointment. It is stated that the author has a Ph.D in Linguistics and from this you could have hoped for some good reflections and analysis. At least that was what I expected when I bought the book. Sadly, the book is a collection of erroneous statements and what appear to be random recollections of her time in China. Her reflections seldom go beyond the most obvious. Time and time over she conveys her ignorance and lack of cultural understanding. The highlight of disrespectfulness: It took two years in China before the author understood that Chinese people care about each other (the chapter about the earthquake). She claims that since Chinese characters are written with uniform spacing reading Chinese is as awkward as reading English with no spacing between words. She admits that she cannot read and write Chinese. I do, I can assure that her statement is nonsense. She suggest "..the Chinese should learn to imagine words without the proper tone". Since tones in Chinese in effect provide different sounds, finals (a part of a syllable that contains vocals) with different tones are as different as different vocals are to English speakers. Try this: Yas thut us I vyri geed adoa! ("Yes that is a very good idea"). Her lack of understanding of Chinese characters and the importance of these as an important cultural heritage is remarkable. In this context she characterize the "deconstruction" (yes, "deconstruction" in the meaning of understanding a character) of characters as "complete madness". And this is even though she does not read or write these characters. Madness, - I will not comment her statement. There are plenty of other issues I could mention. However, I believe the examples above give you an understanding of the qualities of the book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Un put down able,
By John Broaders (Dublin 16 Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dreaming in Chinese: And Discovering What Makes a Billion People Tick (Hardcover)
This is a fantastic read providing a real glimpse of china at so many levels. If you are learning Chinese it's an absolute ESSENTIAL tool to calm you and give you some meaningful context. This should be mandatory reading for students and tourists alike. Most people I have spoken to have read this in days.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dreaming away...,
By abclaret (Lancashire, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dreaming in Chinese: And Discovering What Makes a Billion People Tick (Hardcover)
Part linguistic anecdote, part travel writing, Deborah Fallows documents a few insights into the Chinese, their culture and their fascinating language. I am now better for knowing why he/she causes immense problems for the Chinese, who the Laobaixing are, some tried and tested learning techniques for the asailing Chinese learner, the evolution of Hanzi (Chinese characters) and some of the well-worn characteristics of the people. For a brief read it was well worth delving into but was underwhelmed by some of the sociological insights. There are masses of literature about the changing makeup of China, and it would have done well to draw from that.
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