Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan – where many of our students live – were the first outside China to be affected by COVID-19 (commonly known as the “coronavirus”). Wonder how these countries are doing now? Which topics should we address and which ones should we avoid?

The Situation In Each Country

Overall, life in South Korea and Taiwan is going on as usual, while Japan and Thailand are not doing so well. Below are the “big events” that should put you roughly on the same page as your students from these countries.

Japan

Despite the government’s questionable handling of the cruise ship with COVID-19 cases, the situation in Japan seemed under control in February and March. Schools were closed and big corporations started letting employees work from home, but trains, restaurants, and bars were as crowded as ever.

However, by the start of April, cases had begun spiraling out of control. In response, the government has declared a state of emergency and many establishments have voluntarily shut down. Yet, not everyone is able to stay at home.

South Korea

In early March, South Korea experienced the largest outbreak outside China at the time. Alarmed, over 90 countries began restricting entry to travellers from the country.

However, the majority of infections were concentrated in a specific organization and part of the country. And since then, the country has become a global model for epidemic control. Most famously, South Korea has set up drive-through testing sites, where people can get tested in minutes:

These days, the outbreak has passed its peak and life has largely returned to normal. Last week, big elections even went on as planned!

Taiwan

If South Korea is a model for reining in an outbreak, Taiwan has been a poster child for preventing one. Having experienced a bad outbreak 17 years ago, the Taiwanese government acted early this time.

And so far, their efforts have been successful: despite close ties to China, Taiwan reported fewer than 50 cases at the start of March and new cases in recent weeks have been limited to those returning from abroad. Strict quarantining has also kept the virus from spreading to the general public.

For the time being, life continues as usual. Well, with the exception that masks are now required almost everywhere from public transportation to night markets.

Thailand

In January, Thailand was the first country outside of China to report a case of the coronavirus. Regardless, the spread of the virus seemed to be limited in February, but by mid-March, cases spiked.

Since then, the government has declared a state of emergency, banned international flights, and implemented a curfew. The tourism industry, a main pillar of the economy, is taking a major blow.

Conversation Topics

As a general rule, it’s safer to avoid mentioning COVID-19 unless the student brings it up first. As one of our tutors (🇵🇭) shares, “Some students are using their class time as an escape from everything that’s going on recently.”

If a student does bring up COVID-19, you can recommend the following Daily News articles on the topic:

Here’s a Daily News article on the postponement of the Olympics, which was big news around the world.
Here are some articles on school closures in our students' countries: “31% of Japanese Students Feel Stressed with Schools Closed,” “South Korea Postpones School Year Due to Coronavirus,” and “Japan to Close All Schools to Stop Virus”
Here’s an article on the death of an iconic comedian, whose passing came as a shock to many in Japan and Taiwan.

In Japan and Thailand, where people are being told to stay at home, you can also use these two articles to start conversations:

Other than the topics above, it’s probably safest to keep questions about the virus general and not too personal. Here are some questions we recommend:

What do you think about your government’s response to COVID-19?
What is your country’s government saying about wearing masks? (e.g. Countries which previously discouraged mask-wearing are now encouraging it.)
How do people generally feel about the situation? Are people panicking? Are they calm? (Are they too calm? 😅)
What events have been cancelled in your city/country since COVID-19?

You can also ask about lighter topics, like travel:

Have any of your travel plans changed as a result of COVID-19?
Have you done any travelling in recent months?
Where do you most want to travel to once this situation is over?”

If you want to ask about the students’ lives in particular, you can try the following questions, focusing on health, which is already a popular topic:

Has your daily schedule changed because of COVID-19?
What kind of exercise are you doing these days? How are you staying healthy?
How do you get food these days? Do you cook at home more, eat out, or rely on food delivery?
Have you made any changes to your personal hygiene habits? (I’m definitely washing my hands a lot more!)

You may want to avoid asking directly about your students’ job situation, such as whether or not they’re able to work from home. While people aren’t being laid off in most of our students' countries, work is generally a delicate topic.

Oh and if any of your students are wondering how to pronounce “COVID-19,” they can check out this website!

👋 That’s it for now!

We hope you’ve found this helpful for guiding conversations with students about COVID-19. In the meantime, “stay home and connect with the world”! And if you like this slogan, feel free to apply our frame to your Facebook profile!