Recommendation Letter 1:

Dear Foreign Teachers:

        Greetings! My name is Julianna and I am from Ontario, Canada.

         As you contemplate on which school to apply to as an ESL Instructor, allow me to introduce you to our Middle School and to provide personal insight into why this school should be one of your top considerations.

       I am a former English Foreign Language Instructor at the  Middle School. In 2016, I had the privilege of teaching at this school, which is one of the oldest middle schools in Beijing, built in 1664.

      Over the course of the year, I taught five different levels to children and adolescents aged 7 – 16. Classes ranged in size from 18 – 30 students. I also organized, designed and executed various teaching activities for 5 winter and 5 summer camps. Each camp consisted of 15 students; ages ranged between 14 – 16 years. The summer was a blast! Additionally, I managed the drama club for a short period of time, which consisted of 19 students.

      The students at Our School are obedient, attentive and willing to learn. My experience teaching them every day and seeing their personal growth in advancing their English language skills was a gift.

      My experience would not have been as positive as it was if it were not for the incredible staff that continuously helped me with logistical matters, such as settling in and ensuring I had a safe and comfortable transition. They were extremely hospitable, respectful and helpful with personal and educational matters and advice. If there was ever any issue, we collaborated to resolve it. The staff was all patient and willing to sacrifice their time to make my experience the best it could be. Not only did they provide assistance within the school setting, but outside of school hours as well! Lifelong friendships were built and for that, I am truly grateful.

       Our School is located in the Dongcheng District (central Beijing) in Baochao Hutong. The hutong is safe as well as the school’s environment.

       Looking for an authentic Chinese teaching experience at an amazing school? Then consider this school amongst one of your choices. You will not regret it!

Sincerely,

Julianna 

          My name is Michael .  I am a foreign teacher working at This Beijing Middle School. I would like to quickly introduce myself and let you know about my teaching experience at Our School.  I am a British Canadian.  I graduated from the University of Regina (from a Canadian University) with a Spanish/Linguistics Bachelor’s Degree.  During my time as a University student I tutored a lot of international students in English.  I also took a year off of my studies to work with the Odyssey Program (A program that the Government of Canada promotes to encourage English learning in French parts of Canada).  While working for the Odyssey Program I taught English to French students, which was a very enjoyable experience for me.  I learnt how it felt not always being able to fully express myself in a foreign language.  I lived in a very remote French small town called Disraeli.  This experience gave me a stronger desire to learn about other cultures and share my knowledge about my language and culture to others.  In 2012, I moved to China to learn the Chinese culture and language， as well as to start my career in teaching English.  I started working for International Schools in Beijing. I did that for almost four years then I decided I wanted to try something different so I applied to work at This Middle School for my fifth year of teaching (This Middle School is a Public School).

        At Our Middle School work on curriculum development as well as teach classes.  Each week I select a different topic to teach in English and I design a PowerPoint Presentation as well as worksheets to engage students in English.  I work with four different grades in English (The students are from Junior One to Senior Two). I really enjoy curriculum development it allows me to be creative and tailor activities to my students.  The environment at the school is really good.  The staffs at our school are always friendly and kind to me.  I understand some of the challenges when learning a foreign language so I do my best to make my lessons fun and as educational as I can.  I also do my best in my free time to learn Chinese so I can better communicate with weaker English learning students as well as staff at our school.

       I believe teaching does not just exist in the classroom.  I do my best to module good behavior to my students by showing them the importance of saying please and thank you in class.  I appreciate it when students greet me in the morning.  It is very nice to be working in a friendly environment.  I also teach my students polite ways of asking questions and the importance of it in Canadian culture.  

       I would like to share an experience with you that demonstrate how many of our students are kind and caring. The day before the Dragon Boat Holiday’s began.  I was leaving Our School to go home when I met some other foreigners looking for their accommodations in the hutongs.  The family was from Sweden and could speak English, but not Chinese (they had latter told me that they had been dropped off from a taxi and were walking around the hutongs for about two hours in circles not finding their accommodations).  They had a drawn map of some landmarks with some place written in Chinese.  I stopped and asked many people about the map and gave them the address of the foreigners lodging, but since the place is tucked away in the hutong it was not so famous and many people were unable to give us directions.  They were even unaware of Baidu maps.  To make a long story short I asked many of our students who had trouble searching for the address.  I assured the family that I would help them get to their destination.  Two of our students managed to find the accommodation for the family with their GPS and together we walked to their accommodations.  After this incident the family was very grateful for the kindness of our students and even mentioned to me later that I should publicly thank them for their time spends and kindness in helping out a family of foreigners.  As a result of a kind act I believe the family will be able to go home and say good things about Chinese people as well as of our school.  I believe it is these types of kind acts that are life changing to people.  It isn’t always speaking kind words it is also doing kind acts.  I am happy when I see my students being good people and believe that their English learning will help them communicate better with foreigners.