Dreaming in Hindi: 11/10/12

Both of my children are in a dual immersion Mandarin program at their school. I'm not sure if that is what inspired me to read Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich but I will forever link the two as I read most of the book while waiting to pick up my youngest from school.

The author decided to take a year to learn Hindi as an adult exchange student. She had lost her job and had been diagnosed with cancer. So she thought a complete change is what she needed.

The book covers her time in India, her progress with learning the language, what was happening in the world at the time and some broader thoughts on language, culture and the like. My favorite parts were her insights into learning the language as well as the more academic discussions of language learning.

The weakest part for me was her lengthy passages about being abroad during and after the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Although this was part of her experience, thematically it didn't fit with anything else in the book.

Three stars

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