My name is Chloe and I am a Pamoja IB DP transfer student. At the beginning of my IB journey I had just moved from China to Sweden, and wanted to continue learning Mandarin. However, my new school didn’t offer it and so I was given the chance to take the course online with Pamoja. I enjoy learning languages; aside from Mandarin and English I also speak a bit of Swedish and understand a lot of Indonesian. I believe that learning many languages will be beneficial later on in life, especially as the world becomes more and more globalised.
I started the course at the beginning of the second year, and so I was initially unsure as to how I would find catching up. Luckily, there was a transfer student orientation which was really helpful; it made me understand Pamoja and how my online course would work. The catch up ended up being no problem because I had a very supportive teacher who was always there to help me when I needed it. The process was very smooth, and it also helped that I was eager to learn!
I’ve been a part of an international community since I was very young, and being in Pamoja offered that unique experience again. I am currently living in Sweden but have lived in Kuala Lumpur for six years and China for ten years. As you can imagine, moving to a new school on the other side of the world is a very sharp contrast, so I was really happy to know that the friends I was making were within that globalised community. I completed the transfer student orientation with students from other subjects too, and during the process we spoke with some of the teachers and answered various questions about where we were from, and where we were living. It was really interesting to hear everyone’s international backstory and also see just how huge Pamoja actually is!
Through taking my Pamoja Mandarin course, I’ve become a lot more diligent in my work because I’ve been much more responsible for my own learning compared to in a face-to-face class. Instead of fulfilling somebody else’s expectations I’ve been fulfilling my own and achieving a lot more because of that. I’m also a lot better at communicating my difficulties; I really had to vocalise my issues with the teacher and get support which gave me a lot more confidence in asking for help. I loved my teacher – she was so wonderful and supportive. I honestly wouldn’t have been as successful as I was if I hadn’t had such a dedicated teacher.
The skills that I’ve gained in the last year are definitely lifelong, and learning with Pamoja really does help with university. I was speaking to other students who took a Pamoja course the year before me and they said it had been amazing for their university applications as well as in gaining experience of that learning style. My parents thought it would be a really good experience because digital education is the future, and they were right! I also loved the format of the platform; it was very easy to use and made your progress through the course really visual.
I’m very glad I had the opportunity to do my Mandarin course online with Pamoja. It was different from what I was used to but I actually really enjoyed that, and it has benefited me immensely.
Chloe – former student at Kungsholmens Gymnasium, Stockholm
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