Rawan Ahmed, an Egyptian student of Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University, learns Chinese during online classes in Ismailia, Egypt on March 22, 2020. To control the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Egyptian government temporarily suspended schools, universities and all classes, halted flights and closed museums and archeological sites nationwide. (Xinhua)
by Mahmoud Fouly, Wu Danni
CAIRO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Over the past two weeks, Egyptian student Yomna Hassan managed to continue improving her Chinese language without attending her regular classes at Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University in Ismailia province northeastern Egypt.
"All I needed is a smartphone, a laptop, our text book, a pen and a notebook to join Confucius online classes after suspension of all classes nationwide," said the Egyptian student.
To control the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Egyptian government temporarily suspended schools, universities and all classes, halted flights and closed museums and archeological sites nationwide.
Egypt has discovered so far 536 cases of locals and foreigners infected with COVID-19, including 30 deaths and 116 recoveries.
The cabinet has recently imposed a two-week partial curfew across Egypt from early evening to early morning as an essential part of the precautionary measures.
The procedures led Chinese teachers at Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University to hold online classes for their Egyptian students and continue their teaching mission despite the exceptional circumstances.
"The Chinese teachers have faced several challenges to give online classes to Egyptian students, including the slow local internet network," said Zhu Tingting, the Chinese dean of Confucius Institute at Suez Canal University.
"With the enthusiasm of Egyptian students, we didn't want to give up, so we held our classes in group chat on social media websites and we sent them the text material as PowerPoint files," Zhu told Xinhua.
Putting on a headset and setting in front of a computer, Guo Lingyu, a Chinese teacher at Confucius Institute, communicated with his Egyptian students during an online class, explaining to them, receiving their questions and giving them assignments.
Through exchanging recorded messages, Guo pronounced Chinese words for them, corrected their pronunciations and answered their questions instantly. The Egyptian students gradually seemed more satisfied with studying Chinese online.
"Attending Chinese online classes is comfortable, enjoyable and safe. It is a convenient way to continue learning Chinese while having to stay at home," said Ruqaya Mostafa, an Egyptian student at Confucius Institute.
Her colleagues Rawan Ahmed and Aisha Mostafa agreed that "the online learning environment is comfortable," but they were concerned about gaining weight because of staying at home. They also said they missed their teachers and colleagues.
During the spread of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, most countries, including China and Egypt, resorted to online classes to continue the educational process.
Online classes and lectures have become a "shared destiny" for all students across the world in the light of the novel coronavirus.
Zhang Tinghong, a teacher at Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University, confessed that Chinese online classes are still "not easy" because of lacking the ability to interact directly and closely with the students.
"Meanwhile, some students are of low income families and can't access the internet except through their mobile phones for additional charges, while we seek to minimize expenses for the students," Zhang pointed out.
In addition to Chinese learning online classes, Confucius Institute provides classes on Chinese Wushu, one of the oldest, largest and most famous styles of Chinese martial arts.
"I record clips of Ba Duan Jin exercises and send them to the students through our online classes to teach them how to maintain physical fitness and healthiness and avoid epidemics," said Lyu Meng, a teacher at Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University.
Despite the challenges, the Chinese teachers and the Egyptian students continue to explore the best ways of communication through online classes, and go on with the educational process regardless of the nationwide class suspension.
"I have never imagined that we will have to study and live in this way like many people do on the other side of the world," said Egyptian student Attiya Wael.
"I hope that all people and countries in the world unite and join hands to overcome the ongoing pandemic as soon as possible," the Egyptian young man told Xinhua.
