"A series of reflections on the author's experiences learning a new language and living abroad, in a dual-language edition"-- Provided by publisher.

The crossing -- The dictionary -- Love at first sight -- Exile -- The conversations -- The renunciation -- Reading with a dictionary -- Gathering words -- The diary -- The story -- The exchange -- The fragile shelter -- Impossibility -- Venice -- The imperfect -- The hairy adolescent -- The second exile -- The wall -- The triangle -- The metamorphosis -- Plumbing the depths -- The scaffolding -- Half-light -- Afterword.