Impact of The COVID-19 1

The Impact of The COVID-19 Pandemic on Chinese Students Studying Abroad

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 Impact of The COVID-19 2

The Impact of The COVID-19 Pandemic on Chinese Students Studying Abroad

It’s hard to imagine how much worse the COVID-19 pandemic could get. As it stands,

the virus is wreaking havoc on many parts of the world, one of which is China. Anywhere from

50% to 80% of Chinese students studying abroad have faced danger in their own home land or as

they travel around the world. This number is staggeringly high and it leaves many young people

with a difficult decision to make: whether or not they should continue their studies overseas or

stay in China. Covid-19 has been a significant barrier for many Chinese students studying

abroad. The main factors contributing to this barrier include language and cultural barriers as

well as ethical concerns. In addition, Covid-19 has also had a negative impact on the success of

Chinese students in the United States and Canada through barriers that lead to academic

dysfunction such as low engagement and inability to transition into American education schools.

Therefore, this lead many Chinese students to reach out to the American embassy in Beijing so

they could avoid being subject to Covid-19. Although there are several studies regarding the

impact of international students on society, there is a lack of research regarding any potential

impact Covid-19 has on Chinese students studying abroad. The absence of academic research

regarding Covid-19 has left a lot of gaps in understanding how this law impacts Chinese students

as well as their host countries. In addition, the lack of research on the Covid-19 law has led to

many assumptions that can lead to discussions that lead to misunderstanding. The purpose of the

paper is to highlight the impacts and challenges Chinese students experience as a result of

studying abroad. By examining students, the paper will also synthesize the existing literature of

international students as well as existing literature related to Covid-19 in order to gain a more

comprehensive understanding of the impacts.

 Impact of The COVID-19 3

Many people found it difficult and uneasy to focus on their studies while there are

breaking news about the pandemic happening around us. There were also students who

encountered emergency situations and returned home. The consequence is that their time for

studying abroad was cut short, which will lead to an impact on their graduation time. Usually, if

a person wants to study abroad for a Master's degree, he or she has to finish two years of

undergraduate studies and take one year of master's degree courses before going abroad. If one

finished 4 years of undergraduate studies but went abroad before taking the master's degree

courses, it will cause a delay of one year in graduation time. This is due to the different systems

between US and China regarding education.

The COVID 19 pandemic has caused the school to close for about 2 weeks until the

pandemic has passed. This means that many students studying abroad will be forced to return

home early and put their educations at risk. There are many choices that must be made when it

comes to where schools or universities are located. For example, if a university is in China and

there is a chance of the flu pandemic from COVID-19, then returning home may not be in your

best interest as you may become infected which could cause your school to close prematurely. If

a student studying abroad chooses to attend an American school then it is more likely that the

pandemic from COVID-19 will not negatively affect their education because of how quickly the

disease spreads in a new country. It is also more likely that the schools will stay open if they are

located in countries that have had experience with COVID's.

The process of applying for graduate schools includes taking the Graduate Record

Examination (GRE) in the US or Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) in Canada

and starting to get ready by getting TOEFL certification. Normally, one should apply for it as

soon as possible. Unfortunately, that was not possible. Moreover, the purpose of studying abroad
 Impact of The COVID-19 4

is to enhance people's ability in specific areas and gain a broader view of the world. However,

when a WN (person going abroad) has to be affected by a pandemic, it is inevitable that there

will be an impact on his or her future life. The result will greatly influence the decision about

whether to study abroad or not. If one does not feel safe enough about taking courses which

he/she planned for two years in advance, how can he/she focus on studying? In fact, the impact

on the learning process is not only limited to pandemic. For example, some students were

worried about their families and friends, who felt unconfident about whether they would come

back alive. Even though none of them encountered a serious situation, they still felt anxious. This

caused an impact on their studies and distracted them from studying.

Some changes that were made during the period when WNs were in their host countries

include canceling or postponing the courses with live virus vaccines. It is not safe to inject a

person who had been in a country where there were reported cases of the pandemic. Then, the

university will have to cancel or postpone the live virus vaccines. Furthermore, some universities

have blocked their websites and made changes on their homepages such as announcements about

whether WNs could come back or not. In addition to all of these things, it also caused a delay for

students who planned to study abroad. It was hard for them to make decisions at this time

because they did not know what would happen before the pandemic was under control. Chinese

students who were about to make arrangements for enrolling in overseas universities in the US,

Canada, and Europe had a question mark hanging over them since the beginning of March. They

could not enroll into universities with live virus vaccines which they planned to do before the

pandemic was under control. In addition, some Chinese students who were accepted by these

universities had to cancel their courses or postpone their enrollment due to their being

unconfident of coming back alive.

 Impact of The COVID-19 5

The learning quality will always be affected by certain situations such as natural

disasters, wars and epidemics. These situations cannot be changed and also affect other factors

such as teachers’ responsibility. The Chinese students who have studied during live virus

vaccines have never experienced any problems. Their comparatively short time of learning due

to the negative impact on the learning quality. For example, they first went through some basic

English classes before starting to take English conversation classes. After that, they followed the

same routine in courses about Global BusinessEnglish and International Marketing. They felt

that they were not on the right track. The Chinese students who had to make up their courses

after the pandemic has under control had very limited opportunities to learn new things. The

WN's time for learning will be affected by many factors such as language, living conditions, and

the difficulties they encounter in their host countries. Because they will not have basic classes

before going abroad, they will not have time for learning new things in general.

Most teachers do not know what to teach and how much emphasis each student has on his

or her own learning process. The major problem is that most of them are not prepared for dealing

with the students' lack of self-confidence. Some teachers suggested some changes in the teaching

methods. For example, they suggested that students who had a hard time going abroad should be

given more chances to speak up in class and ask questions, so as to boost their self-confidence.

They also thought that the university should arrange some activities such as trips and lectures to

help students regain their confidence. The Chinese students who were affected by the pandemic

were taught by different teachers. Different teachers often have different methods in their

teaching. It will affect the education quality and the attitude of them Chinese students. Some

Chinese students think that they can learn something new from this situation, which is an

opportunity for them to change their ideas about studying abroad.

 Impact of The COVID-19 6

The effect of the pandemic on students' psychology is a big problem for Chinese students.

Even though some students did not encounter any serious problems, they all felt unconfident

about whether they would be able to come back alive. That was the main reason why some

students are worried about their families and friends. They feel very concerned about their family

members in China and feel guilty for having fun in the US while their families are still living in

fear. The implications of the pandemic on the Chinese students’ families and friends are also

quite a problem. Because of the lack of communication and information from home, the families

and friends in China did not know if their loved ones were able to come back alive. They had no

confidence about their return. The Chinese students who went abroad during live virus vaccines

had a lot of problems with their family members and friends. In fact, their families did not

believe that they would be able to come back alive until they watched them on the video or took

a picture. Then, they noticed that those young people were really trying hard to come back alive,

in contrast with what they thought before going overseas.

Classmates from different countries often cooperate together in their learning by talking

to each other. This method of interacting with peers helps them keep their studying momentum

up and their morale up. However, this method is not always suitable for Chinese students study

abroad. The Chinese students had problems with this cooperative learning because of some

limitations such as language and social issues. One major problem they have with it is the

language they use. They would rather communicate using vocabulary in English than using

Chinese. When they started to communicate with their classmates, they would be sure that they

will not understand anything because there was no communication between them before going

overseas. The Chinese students who had to go back to China in the WN period found it very hard

to make up their courses because of interruptions in their lives. They were often away from home
 Impact of The COVID-19 7

for more than 1O month. In fact, they were not able to go back until two years after the end of

the WN phase. Some Chinese students in this group had problems with their parents and friends

while they were away from home; they were absent for a long time and did not have many

chances to come back home even though they had a chance. The Chinese students who are

currently abroad are still dealing with these difficulties

Increased an applicant's cost of living and tuition fees. The cost of living and tuition fees

for US universities is higher than the cost in China. The increased financial burden on

international students with the COVID-19 Pandemic. The increased financial burden on

international students with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the

quota for international students from Mainland China and Macao has been reduced by 50% since

September 2014. The COVID-19 Pandemic was not a disease that affected only China, rather it

affected colleges around the world. As such, studying abroad is still popular among high school

graduates in China regardless of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Total income in China is much lower

than the expenses that international students pay, such as housing and tuition fees. COVID-19

Pandemic only makes international students' situation worse, thus the situation of overseas

Chinese students will not improve with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To conclude, life is not so perfect for the Chinese students who went abroad during the

COVID-19 pandemic flu period. However, their experience can be useful for students in the

future. The Chinese students who have experienced this situation will be able to provide more

support for those who have gone abroad since the outbreak of SARS and the outbreaks of other

contagious diseases. In addition, they can share their experiences with those in the COVID-19

period so that live virus vaccines harm them less. The students abroad should also be provided

with help from their family members and friends back home so as to overcome their problems.
 Impact of The COVID-19 8

On the other hand, the families and friends back home should be more confident about their

loved ones and respect them when they go overseas. They should not think that those students

are unsafe in different countries just because of a limited number of information from them.

The pandemic had a big effect on the communication difficulties of Chinese students.

The pandemic itself is one of the reasons for this miscommunication, but there are other reasons

for this as well. These Chinese students have communication and language problems with their

classmates. This can be one reason to why they would rather communicate with their American

peers using English rather than using Chinese. One major problem is that these students are not

sure whether they can speak English up to the required level. Many of them feel that speaking

English in front of their classmates and teachers at school only brings them embarrassment. A

few of them tend to be nervous in class because they cannot find a way to communicate with

their classmates or teachers back home in China. Even though Chinese students do have

problems communicating with their classmates and teachers at school, they have solved these

problems by communicating more time with them through the phone and the Internet. The

pandemic had a big impact on the Chinese students’ psychology. Some of them feel anxious

about testing and learn more when they are in the US. They may not have enough time to study

because they don't want to miss out on any chance to experience college life. At the same time,

these Chinese students find it very hard to communicate with their classmates at school and need

more time for studies, so that they can fulfill their academic requirements in school. The fact that

the pandemic has psychological effects on Chinese students studying abroad has also made their

communication problems more complicated.

The Chinese students who are currently studying abroad find it very hard to manage their

own problems in this international environment. They have a hard time dealing with their daily
 Impact of The COVID-19 9

lives, especially their school life. It is quite common for them to complain about their stress and

depression, which may result in insomnia or panic attacks. This can be one of the reasons why

they do not like to go out and socialize a lot. In addition, they are afraid that they might not be

able to come back home alive because of the current situation in the world. They usually feel that

they cannot relax when going out on the street because there is always someone who has been

killed by a virus or is infected by viruses. The pandemic in China had a big effect on the daily

lives of Chinese students. They are especially worried about their parents, who in the beginning

of the crisis were all invited to go to China for safety. Some of them suffered greatly because

they could not bear the idea of leaving their parents behind. As for their friends, some of them

did not want to go back either and stayed on in China alone. There have been cases where some

girls and boys have been separated from their friends when going overseas due to big changes in

lifestyles or transportation.

Chinese students who are currently studying abroad encounter communication issues

with their classmates who come from other countries as well. The communication problems they

face tend to be different from those of Chinese students currently studying in China because of

their differences in culture and the language barrier between them. What is more, the cultural

differences and language barrier can't be overcome by a long time of communication or

cooperation in school. Therefore, there will definitely be some issues for them to communicate

with each other. The fact that some of the Chinese students who went to study abroad are in

college has made their communication problems even more complicated. They often have

different ideas about their own futures and ways of studying; they do not trust each other and do

not find it easy to come together in a group. They may be willing to solve these communication

problems one by one until they are able to communicate with each other well. The pandemic
 Impact of The COVID-19 10

caused a number of problems for Chinese students, such as the ones above. The effects of the

pandemic on Chinese students were much more severe than people thought before going

overseas. Some Chinese students have left out university and some have returned to China while

others have made up their studies after returning home. From the above scenario, it can be seen

that the pandemic had a stronger effect on the lives of Chinese students than people expected. In

order to solve these problems and make up for the time they lost overseas, Chinese students

should cooperate with their classmates, teachers, and parents and focus on their studies and

academics.
 Impact of The COVID-19 11

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