How is coronavirus affecting your studies?

[DaveAgain]

Don't worry. The spread will level off. As you said, there will be a spike in confirmed cases as we start mass testing. But that will also expose just how mild this thing is. We will get it under control. Some of us may have already gotten it and recovered without even knowing it.

And some of us know people personally who are currently infected with it. It's all well and good not panicking, but that's different from denial.

The boffins behind the french response appear to be the scientific committee advising Mr Macron.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences/corona ... n-20200313

One of them, Didier Raoult, says that the South Korean response is the model that will be followed: mass testing, and confinement of the infected.

https://youtu.be/K7g4WKoS_6U

[Speakeasy]

The corona virus has not yet had any effect on my language studies. However, the recent massive changes in human behavior, both government-mandated and self-imposed (mostly in the industrialized nations), have caused me to reflect upon our collective ability to change our destiny.

For example, let us suppose that, collectively, we consecrated a third of the total efforts which have been, and which will be, deployed to combat COVID-19, to the next big challenge facing us all: climate change. If we were to work together on this problem with the same zeal, fixing it would be a done deal! And then, we could attack poverty and a wide range of other social ills. Nah, that would never work, fuhgeddaboudit.

[Serpent]

(One more thread about covid-19: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... p?p=162664)

Definitely a negative effect so far. Football has been cancelled. A week ago I was still thinking in terms of "OMG a few weeks without Italian football", and hoping some/most leagues would continue playing. Then a positive case at Real Madrid basketball was announced, and it abruptly sank in.
For the record, I'm not worried for my favourite footballers. At their age it's much worse to play a match with a fever of 38-39 than to have covid and stay at home. Some coaches/officials are at risk though

Eventually I'll hopefully adjust, but for now I spend too much time looking at information in Russian or English. (I do see plenty of great tweets in Italian/Spanish/Portuguese though)

Right now I'm also recovering from a nasty cold (which may well be a mild case of covid tbh) Hopefully i'll find it easier to readjust when I'm better. I'm also definitely planning to get some non-L2 stuff done.

I was really lucky to go to Riga in late February. Now I don't know when I can travel again

As for content, one of the books I was planning to read takes place during the AIDS epidemic. I've read some 60 pages or so. But I haven't opened it since the covid outbreak was announced.

[brilliantyears]

This whole situation is definitely affecting my studies negatively. I am not worried about the corona virus itself, but social distancing and working from home are affecting me badly (and it's only day 4 ). I was finally starting to recover a bit from last year's huge, long bout of depression, but now I'm back in my head and I am unable to focus on anything. I am a social introvert. I am usually perfectly fine amusing myself and occasionally need to take some distance from the world and act like a hermit, but that's by choice and for a week at most (and then I go back and get my social fix at work). I can't even pinpoint the exact problem right now, I can still go outside and I still talk to my colleagues (albeit virtually), but my work is suffering, and so is everything else. I'm trying to stick to routine and that helps a little, along with virtual coffee meetings that lift my spirits immensely, but. Ugh. After work hours (during which I feel completely useless) I end up just watching tv and mindlessly browsing the internet.

When it comes to my language studies, I do the bare minimum. A skill on Duolingo. Some Memrise reviews. That's it. I don't know yet if the rest of our Russian classes will be cancelled (I think it would be for the best). And like others have said, definitely no travel for the foreseeable future (thankfully I hadn't actually booked much - one short trip to Berlin at the start of April is cancelled for sure, and early June I have a week long trip planned for Scotland).

[tarvos]

I was going to say positive but then I caught the effing bug and now I just want to sleep. THIS VIRUS IS UNCOOL. And I'm definitely unhappy because this also means my, erm, very anticipated trip to Finland's off the cards most likely.

Will study more when head is not sore and when I can breathe properly and it doesn't feel like Smaug is trying to burn his way through my lungs from the inside.

[PaulHarker]

Overall negative. I am retired, so it has not impacted my day-to-day study time, however I felt it was time to pack my bags and spend a few early summer weeks in Germany, immersing myself in the language. This is no longer an option, both due to travel restrictions, and also because I fall into the categories , “over sixty” (62) and “immuno-compromised” (dermatomyositis/scleroderma).
Probably time to set up an iTalki account.

[leosmith]

When I started this thread I said "no affect", but the situation quickly changed. They locked Manila down about 2 weeks before I planned to go there, which forced me to cancel that leg of my trip. My friend invited me to Hawaii as an alternative, so I made reservations. The very next day the same friend said not to come because he has to hunker down. Then I read that the US was evacuating all Peace Corps volunteers. I was in Tanzania at the time, and decided to return home immediately. I was afraid of more airport closures and/or more difficult procedures for returning home. Self imposed isolation is one thing, but I didn't want to sit in a hospital for weeks. I returned through Dubai rather than Europe to avoid tighter travel restrictions.

So in summary, it killed my trip to the Philippines (no Tagalog spurt) and shortened my stay in Tanzania (shorter Swahili spurt). Negative impact for sure.

[Beli Tsar]

My language studies haven't been going great this year in general (I haven't posted here in a while!) but this definitely isn't helping. I've either had it, or I've had the worst flu of my life... feeling pretty bad still two weeks in. It could be a lot worse, I've been lucky, no lung issues, but no language study. And now school is cancelled for the next 12 weeks minimum - so when I'm not trying to work I'll be keeping the kids occupied.
On the bright side, it might mean the start of my kids' language learning - a French-speaking friend is going to do lessons with a group of kids via Zoom, and I'll back that up with Anki + Peppa Pig + other things. I've always wanted to have a decent go at getting them to learn a language young, and it's never been possible up until now.
And it certainly means being a lot more involved with the kids lives. We'll all remember this for a long time.

[Elsa Maria]

I managed to get the National Latin Exam done on March 11, and have not studied languages since. I have been using Danish to follow the news in Denmark, but I am already at a high level of Danish and I have been grateful for that.

My three young adult children have needed a tremendous amount of help to get themselves to safe, well-supplied locations. That is all that I have been able to concentrate on. Now that everyone is (hopefully) in a place where they can ride this out, I am hoping to study again, as I think it would be good for my mental health.

[Adrianslont]

(One more thread about covid-19: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... p?p=162664)

Definitely a negative effect so far. Football has been cancelled. A week ago I was still thinking in terms of "OMG a few weeks without Italian football", and hoping some/most leagues would continue playing. Then a positive case at Real Madrid basketball was announced, and it abruptly sank in.

Here in australia most of our football continues: that’s soccer (A-League), Australian Rules football (AFL) and rugby league (NRL). The women’s leagues continue, too. All for the moment but they seem pretty determined to push through and avoid financial oblivion.

It’s english commentary as you would expect but this may be an opportunity for you to explore the subtle differences of Australian English! Probably not quite the same standard of play . If you can find a source for the games where you are. And maybe you would prefer to watch historic games on YouTube - but if you want the thrill of following a game in real time ...

I hope your virus clears up soon.