Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows

Oh my God, this book is taking forever to read so I'm just going to talk about it as I read it instead of waiting until I finish it like I had planned.
The book isn't very long- it's only 188 pages but it isn't one of those books that keeps you hooked. You kinda have to force yourself to keep reading. So why am I reading it? Well, this book is written by a linguist who lived in Shanghai for a number of years and studied Chinese. While studying Chinese she realized that by understanding the culture of China it made learning the language easier and visa versa. So this book is about Mandarin but it's in regards to the Chinese culture which is a very interesting concept. Therefore, I keep reading. So far it has been interesting just not on-the-edge-of-your-seat interesting. And for someone who reads history books for fun, the fact I can't sit and read it through says something. Nonetheless, I keep reading.
One thing she has discussed is the Chinese version of love versus the Western version. To not paraphrase the entire chapter, I'll just say that unlike English the Chinese verbs do not have a past, present, or future tense. So when the phrase "I love you" in Chinese or 我爱你 holds no sense of being apart of a period of time. It encompasses all time. Just thinking about that concept a bit sounds far more romantic than our English version which gives the easy option of having an end to love.
In another chapter Fallows discussed the difference between common speech in English and Chinese. In English, being polite usually means being very nice and considerate. In Chinese it gives the impression that you're distancing yourself from one another. Chinese use more blunt, "rude" language to show a closeness to the person they are speaking to, almost like welcoming them or being intimate. So the Chinese actually think English are too polite! And here we thought we were being nice.

She talks about other things like how the Chinese view time and place and how they are intertwined as well as talking about tones and just how important they are to the Chinese language. It really is interesting it's just not exciting per se.
I'm going to continue reading and definitely recommend the book to anyone who wants proof that culture and language can help describe the other and should not be viewed without the other.