When in French: Love in a Second LanguageA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR Talking to you in English, he said, is like touching you with gloves. A language barrier is no match for love. New Yorker journalist Lauren Collins discovers this first hand when, in her early thirties, she moves to London and falls for Olivier, a Frenchman. As their relationship begins to grow, Lauren senses that there are things she doesnt understand about Olivier, having never spoken to him in his mother tongue.