While college campuses in China remain closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, signs of life are starting to emerge. At schools like Beijing Foreign Studies University, some foreign professors never left. They live on the campus and continue their classes online for students who live across China. It's a new norm for students and their teachers.

Zulu language teacher Mthuli Buthelezi has been getting creative in order to grab his students' attention during the classes.

"I'm lucky, my students are very disciplined. I do use PowerPoint presentations, I believe that the text in the PowerPoint needs to go with the images as well as with the videos," Mthuli said.

He joined Beijing Foreign Studies University in 2018 to teach Zulu, South Africa's most widely spoken native language. The pandemic disrupted his plan to visit his family in South Africa in January, so he stayed in Beijing and witnessed and experienced Chinese efforts to control the pandemic. He talks to his family and friends about effective prevention measures he witnessed over the past few months. During his on-campus stay in Beijing, he conducted research on "urban youth linguistic varieties" and continues to formulate the first readability formula for the Zulu language. 

"I have a big family. I have got older people in the family. Older people are more vulnerable to this virus, so I did share with them what they need to do. I did tell them that they need to wash their hands, and stay indoors and eat healthy as well. I feel that China can be a model which many countries can copy. They have been very successful in controlling the pandemic. As a result, the number of new infections is very low," said Mthuli.

Mthuli enjoys research in culture and music, saying it gives him strength.

He introduced a popular South African type of music called Kwela, which means to whistle. 

"This song has upbeat melodies to it. It's not a sad melody, with low keys. During the pandemic, it's a sad time and a tragic time, but this particular song right here with its upbeat melody gives us more hope, and to be more hopeful," Mthuli said.

While some foreign experts remain on campus, some live over 6,000 miles away in Nigeria. Because of the pandemic, Dr. Muhammad Abdullahi had to stay in Nigeria and work late night hours, from 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. local time, to give online Hausa Language classes to his students in China.

"We have covered a lot of lessons with my students, it would be very good for me to meet them after the pandemic. I am very much assured that from what I see, what I hear, and what I watch on the television, that it is under control, so we have to thank China for what it has been doing, which is what our countries in Africa and some other countries in the world now are copying," he said.

As the teachers say, even in the most challenging times, people still need to be optimistic and hope for the best to come.