The hazards of learning a new language

Learning a new language can be a wonderful experience. It refreshes and challenges the mind. With perseverance it eventually can be a gateway to meeting new friends. Finally, after much effort, it enables one to enter the deep thinking of another culture. As Charlemagne is reputed to have said, “Avoir une autre langue, c’est posséder une deuxième âme”. (To have another language is to possess a second soul.)

Development: Malaria

My experience with malaria goes back a long way. In 1966 when I first arrived in Tanzania to work there I used to take quinine-based malaria medicine once a week, on Sundays. On Mondays as I headed off to work I typically had a headache. I reasoned to myself that it seemed like I really did not like my work very much, since going to work on Mondays gave me a headache. I have since learned quite a bit about quinine based anti-malarial medicine. More of that later. First let me share a few words about the nature of malaria itself.