Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language

Although I am Chinese, I have very few words in my vocabulary from my childhood. Ah Po (grandmother), Ah Kung (grandfather), and Paisan (annual memorial service) are pretty much all I remember. We can then add in the names of Chinese foods, and words we have learned from the Chinese Kung Fu movies made in Hong Kong and I think that perhaps I have about 100 words. It was therefore very interesting to read Deborah Fallow's book, Dreaming in Chinese. She shares her experiences as an American living in China (Shanghai) and she learns the language, learns the culture, and lives the Chinese lifestyle. The neatest story is about the word shi pronounced "sure." A Chinese scholar, Chao Yuen Ren, designed an early version of Romanized Chinese. He wrote a story about a lion-eating poet using 92 characters which are pronounced in the same way shi. The poet named SHI loves to eat lions (shi shi) and goes to the market (shi) to buy ten (shi) of them. He takes them home to eat (shi) but discovers that they are made (shi) of stone (shi). Ahhhhhh....clever indeed. Get the book with a copy of the story on page 42 with the 92 Chinese characters all pronounced shi. I agree that when you live in a country and learn the language, insights into the culture become so clear. What to say, when to say, how to say, and what never to say...become communication markers. This is an interesting book. I wish that it was an audio book so that I could hear the Chinese words sounded out with the various intonations and especially, I want to hear the story about the Lion Eating Poet.