Dreaming in Chinese : Mandarin lessons in life, love, and language / Deborah Fallows.

Originally published: London : Short Books, 2010.

Includes bibliographical references.

Wŏ ài nĭ! = I love you! : the grammar of romance -- Bú yào! = Don't want, don't need! : when rude is polite -- Shī, Shí, Shĭ, Shì = Lion, ten, to make, to be : language play as a national sport -- Dăbāo = Do you do takeout? : why the Chinese hear tones, and we don't -- Lăobăixìng = Common folk : China's Ordinary Joe -- Nĭ hăo, Wŏ jiào Mínyì = Hello, my name is Public Opinion : a brief introduction to Chinese names -- Dōngbĕi = Eastnorth : finding your way in China-- the semantics of time and place -- Wŏ, Nĭ, Tā, Tā, Tā = I, you, he, she, it : disappearing pronouns and the sense of self -- Rènao = Hot-and-noisy : think like the Chinese think -- Tīng bù dŏng = I don't understand : a billion people, countless dialects -- Hànzì = Characters ; the essence of being Chinese -- Bù kĕyĭ = Not allowed : rules to follow and rules to break -- Dìzhèn = Earthquake : out of calamity, tenderness -- Nĭ de Zhōngwĕn hĕn hăo! = Your Chinese is really good! : a little goes a long way.