Dreaming in Hindi

by Katherine Russell Rich

In this mesmerizing chronicle, journalist Katherine Russell Rich plunges into new language and new life in India. By turns funny, frightening, and deeply exhilarating, Dreaming in Hindi details the extraordinary year Rich spent learning to speak Hindi in the ancient city of Udaipur. The language continually led her into unexpected far corners: she taught art at school for the deaf, judged a Michael Jackson impersonation contest, watched as political tension erupted into violence, and, by the end of the year, found herself utterly changed. Seamlessly combining stories from her personal journey with wide-ranging reporting on the science of language aquisition, Dreaming in Hindi offers a thought-provoking account of what learning a new tongue can teach us about distant worlds and, ultimately, ourselves.