Have you ever tried to learn another language? When Zhuang first arrives in London from China she feels like she is among an alien species. The city is disorientating, the people unfriendly, the language a muddle of personal pronouns and moody verbs. But with increasing fluency in English surviving turns to living. And they say that the best way to learn a language is to fall in love with a native speaker

Selected from the bookA Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loversby Xiaolu Guo

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.

A series of short books by the worlds greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

Also in the Vintage Minis series: Babiesby Anne Enright Depressionby William Styron Raceby Toni Morrison Homeby Salman Rushdie

Xiaolu Guowas born in south China. She studied film at the Beijing Film Academy and published six books in China before she moved to London in 2002. Her books includeVillage of Stonewhich was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize,A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Loverswhich was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction,20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youthwhich was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, andI Am Chinawhich was longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. In 2013 she was named as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Xiaolu has also directed several award-winning films includingShe, A Chineseand a documentary about London,Late at Night. She lives in London and Berlin.