Staying Safe from the Coronavirus ☢️ LTL’s Complete Guide

How to Stay Safe From The Coronavirus

2020 has been dominated by the global pandemic that is the Coronavirus. With that in mind we wanted to do our bit for our students and blog readers by teaching some useful words in Chinese for staying safe from the Coronavirus.

We’ll discuss symptoms and then some useful words and phrases on how to give yourself the best chance of avoiding COVID-19.

Symptoms of the Common Cold/Flu

Symptoms of the Coronavirus

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus

Useful Coronavirus Vocabulary

Following the Coronavirus Updates

Life in China during the Coronavirus

Travelling during the Coronavirus

8 Things to do during the Coronavirus

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – Symptoms of a Cold/Flu

Below is a list of the symptoms you would expect if you had a common cold or the flu.

• Symptoms of the Common Cold or Flu – 感冒症状 gǎnmào zhèngzhuàng
• Headache 头疼 tóuténg
• Sore Throat 嗓子疼 sǎngzi téng
• Cough 咳嗽 késòu
• Fever 发热/发烧 fārè/fāshāo
• Runny Nose 流鼻涕 liú bítì
• Sneezing 打喷嚏 dǎ pēntì

NOTE – these are the symptoms for a COMMON COLD, if you feel these things, this does NOT mean you absolutely have the Coronavirus. It’s a very easy thing to be anxious about, but actually if you have a runny noose and are sneezing a lot for example, this means you do NOT have the COVID-19. Do not panic in these situations.

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – Symptoms of the Coronavirus

So what sort of symptoms would you expect to have if you feared COVID-19.

Here are the main four you should be looking out for.

• Dry Cough 咳嗽干咳 késòu gānké
• Fever 发热/发烧 fārè/fāshāo
• Fatigue 乏力 fálì
• Shortage of breath 呼吸困难 hūxī kùnnán

If you are suffering from these symptoms, do not panic. Be sure to keep contact with others to an absolute minimum and get in touch with a doctor as soon as possible.

Do not ignore these symptoms as you could be putting others at risk, but at the same time, do not panic.

How to stay safe from the Coronavirus

Now we know the symptoms, what should we all be doing to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus?

Here are a list of things you should be following day to day:

• Quarantine 隔离 gélí
• Wash your hands 洗手 xǐshǒu
• Social Distancing 社交距离 shèjiāo jùlí
• Stay safe 保持安全 bǎochí ānquán
• Do not shake hands 不握手 bù wòshǒu
• Do not hug 不拥抱 bù yǒngbào
• Wear a mask 戴口罩 dài kǒuzhào

It’s important to follow these as much as possible. Countries around the world are changing their rules daily on what you can and cannot do but remember, the virus cannot spread if you remain isolated.

Avoid physical contact and only go out if you absolutely need to.

Likewise when going to supermarkets – DO NOT PANIC BUY.

There are many stories and videos from around the world where people are bulk buying toilet roll. Why do this?

Everyone is in the same boat and supermarkets are not closing. Think of others, and buy your supplies as you normally would.

Some supermarkets worldwide are even opening and giving the first hour solely to OAP’s – a wonderful initiative to allow the most vulnerable full access to all the things they need.

• Change your mask often
  • 经常换口罩
  • jīngcháng huàn kǒuzhào
• Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing
  • 咳嗽和打喷嚏时捂住口鼻
  • késòu hé dǎ pēntì shí wǔ zhù kǒu bí
• Avoid close contact
  • 避免近距离接触
  • bìmiǎn jìn jùlí jiēchù
• Avoid public places
  • 避免去人多的场所
  • bìmiǎn qù rén duō de chǎngsuǒ

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – Useful Vocabulary

There are many buzzwords going around relating to COVID-19. The WHO (世界卫生组织 shìjièwèishēngzǔzhī) officially announced the virus to be a global pandemic (大流行 dàliúxíng) for one.

Let’s summarise some of those keywords you might be seeing and teach you the Chinese:

• Asymptomatic 无症状的 wúzhèngzhuàngde
• Epidemic 流行病 liúxíngbìng
• Pandemic 大流行 dàliúxíng
• Herd immunity 群体免疫 qúntǐmiǎnyì
• Mitigation 缓解 huǎnjiě
• WHO (World Health Organisation) 世界卫生组织 shìjièwèishēngzǔzhī

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – Following the Updates

When following data and graphs relating to COVID-19, you might come across a version completely in Mandarin.

DON’T CLOSE YOUR TAB! This is a great chance to learn something new. Here are three words you are absolutely certain to come across.

• Deaths 死亡人数 sǐwángrénshù
• Recovered 恢复 huīfù
• Reported Cases 报告的病例 bàogàodebìnglì

You can find the latest COVID-19 case numbers from around the world on the worldometers website here.

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – Life in China

February 2020 was an unprecedented time for LTL in China, with the outbreak of COVID-19 spreading outside of Hubei province and into the major cities.

Our schools were promptly shut down according to government advice and some of our students took some video diaries of their time in China during the “apocalypse”.

Below are videos from Hannah & Evelyn + Tobias & Mikkel who were all based in Shanghai during February 2020.

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – Travelling

Travelling during the Coronavirus isn’t advised but in some cases of course this is absolutely necessary.

It’s absolutely vital to check travel arrangements before going anywhere because the situation changes, quite literally, every single day!

Here are some useful phrases relating to staying safe from the Coronavirus whilst on the move.

• Closing country borders
  • 关闭国家边境
  • guān bì guó jiā biān jìng 
• Cancel travel plans
  • 取消旅行计划
  • qǔ xiāo lǚ xíng jì huà
• Will I get a refund on my plane ticket?
  • 我的机票能退票吗？
  • wǒ de jī piào néng tuì ma ？
• Do you have travel insurance?
  • 你有旅行保险吗？
  • nǐ yǒu lǚ xíng bǎo xiǎn ma ？
• Entry to ___ is banned
  • 禁止进入___
  • jìn zhǐ jìn rù___
• Visa restrictions
  • 签证限制
  • qiān zhèng xiàn zhì

57 Basic Chinese Phrases 🗣 LTL’s Complete Guide to Chinese for Beginners

The Most Useful Basic Chinese Phrases You Have To Know. Download our basic Chinese phrases flashcards and learn the very basics for when you come to China.

8 Things to do during the Coronavirus

Most of us are experiencing some form of quarantine at the moment. We’ve seen the term “bored” banded around more than ever recently but actually, you can use this time to your advantage.

Being locked up means you have a gift that we generally never have – TIME!

Remember all those times you said “I’d love to do ___, but I just don’t have the time at the moment”…

… and it never gets done. Time is the single greatest excuse we use to put something off, and never do it.

So in times of strife, let’s do something positive with our time to stop us going insane.

Being a Mandarin language school our suggestions are based towards learning Chinese, obviously. Apply them to your goals (for example number #1, post-it notes, this can be done for any form of study whether it be Chinese, Italian, Chemistry, Trading…)

• Post it notes with the Chinese characters on all furniture.
• Vocabulary lists in front of toilet, dining table and the door.
• Follow case numbers in Mandarin
• Read the WHO Chinese page. 
• Netflix: search for “Mandarin Language Movies” or watch your programmes using Mandarin subtitles with Language Learning Netflix on Chrome.
• Sign up for online Chinese classes ltl-online-school.com.
• Search Mandarin Cooking Show on YouTube and try it yourself.
• Search 中国音乐 (Chinese Music) on Spotify for Chinese music playlists.

Staying Safe from the Coronavirus – FAQ’s

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