Teacher Recommendation for an ESL Student: Sample

Teacher Recommendation for an ESL Student: Sample

For an ESL or international student, the teacher recommendation is the only document that can show English growth over time, from someone who watched it. Common App's teacher form caps the letter at 1,000 words and rates "Quality of writing" against the student's own class. Use the letter to show one dated before-and-after: the first piece of work compared with a recent one.

Our view: one dated comparison is worth more than any sentence about "excellent command of English". Test scores show a level on one day. Only a teacher can show the direction, and direction is what a reader of a second-language writer most needs.

This page is for the teacher writing the letter. For the general Common App teacher evaluation (the full ratings grid, FERPA and deadlines), see the Common App teacher recommendation letter guide. Form text below is from Common App's 2025–26 teacher recommendation print preview hosted by Harvard College; Common App and college pages were checked on October 30, 2026.

What US readers want from a teacher letter

The form's own description, from the 2025–26 preview:

"The teacher recommendation lets you share unique insights about your student from the vantage point of the classroom. They can provide a view of an applicant's intellectual curiosity, creative thought, and work habits."

Common App's writing guide for counselors and teachers (September 2026) lists, for teachers, "Growth over the course of the class, or since the last time the teacher taught the student, including the willingness to be challenged and learning from the experience". That entry is the opening for an ESL student. Growth in English is growth in your class.

Three mechanics from Common App:

• One letter goes to every college. The recommender guide says "once you submit a form, it's sent to all the colleges you're assigned to. That's why it's important not to customize your forms for a specific institution."
• The ratings grid compares the student with the class. "Compared to other students in their class, how do you rate this student in terms of:", with rows that include "Quality of writing", "Productive discussion" and "Self confidence".
• The letter is "a short evaluation (1000 words or less)", with no minimum.

How home-country letters differ, and what to change

If the letters your school usually writes are short formal testimonials (dates of study, marks, a line on conduct), the US format is different: a narrative with evidence. Common App's tips for recommenders say "Colleges don't need a recap of things they will read in the application" and "Anecdotes outshine adjectives. Always."

What to change:

• Drop the marks list. The transcript already shows marks.
• Add a comparison group. "Compared to other students in their class" is how the grid works. Name the group in the letter too: "the 26 students in my Grade 11 history class".
• Add one honest limit. Common App's tips: "Colleges value candor, not perfection."

For a side-by-side of an Indian certificate letter and a US recommendation, see teacher recommendations for US universities from India. For how European letters read in the US, see European vs American recommendation letters.

Writing about English ability without hurting the student

The risk is real in both directions. Praise English too generally and the letter contradicts the test scores. Mention English only as a weakness and the letter undersells the hardest thing the student did.

Colleges read English test scores closely. Penn says competitive Duolingo English Test applicants "should have an overall score of 130 or above with demonstrated consistency across the subsections of the test" (Penn). Boston University says of the Duolingo English Test, "We will review your subscores for consistency within each subject area" (BU). A letter that calls a student "fluent" next to an uneven writing subscore raises a question you cannot answer.

Our recommendation, in five rules:

1. Describe, don't grade, the English. "She now writes a 1,200-word source analysis without a model" is a fact. "Her English is excellent" is a grade the reader cannot use.
2. Date the growth. Name the first assignment and the recent one, with the term or month.
3. Show what the student did to grow. Office hours, rewriting drafts, reading in English outside class. The growth is the student's effort, not your teaching.
4. Never mention accent or "broken English". Speaking style is not evidence about college work. If spoken confidence grew, describe what the student now does: leads a discussion, presents, asks questions.
5. Do not contradict the scores, and do not explain them. You can describe writing growth. You cannot say what a test measured. How the two fit together is covered in English test scores vs the college essay.

Sample letter (constructed)

Constructed example, written by us, not a real teacher letter. The school, the student, the quoted student sentences and every number are invented. Do not copy it: Common App's tips say "Form letters are convenient but counterproductive."

I taught Jae-won Park in Grade 11 and Grade 12 History at Lakeview International School (fictional), in classes of 26 and 22. He joined our school from a Korean-medium school at the start of Grade 11 and is the only student in my Grade 12 class for whom English is a third language, after Korean and Japanese.

His first essay for me, in September of Grade 11, was a summary. Asked whether the 1919 Paris Peace Conference made another war likely, he wrote two pages that listed the treaty's terms in order and ended: "So the treaty was very harsh." Every sentence was correct. None of them argued.

He came to my office hours the following week and asked what "argue" meant in a history essay. Over the next three months he rewrote that essay four times. He started keeping a notebook of linking phrases from the sources we read ("this suggests", "a historian might object that") and using one or two in every paragraph.

In March of Grade 12 he submitted a 1,400-word source analysis on the partition of India. It opened: "This essay argues that the speed of the withdrawal, not the borders alone, explains the violence, and that the sources disagree most about why the date was chosen." It was the strongest analysis in a class of 22. I asked him to read his conclusion aloud to the class, which he would not have agreed to a year earlier.

His spoken English is still slower than his written English, and he prepares before he speaks in discussion. But he now speaks in every class. Last month he was the one who asked the question that turned a discussion of sources into an argument about which ones to trust.

Of the students I have taught in eight years at this school, Jae-won has shown the largest change in how he thinks on paper. I recommend him with enthusiasm.

That letter is 320 words.

How it works:

• Vantage point first: courses, years, class sizes, and his language background in one line.
• A dated before: September of Grade 11, with the exact weak sentence.
• What the student did: office hours, four rewrites, the notebook.
• A dated after: March of Grade 12, with the strong sentence and a comparison with the class.
• Candor without harm: spoken English described as slower and prepared, then what he now does.
• A comparison with a base: "eight years at this school".

Phrases to cut and what to write instead

If English is not your strongest language either

Some colleges accept a letter in another language with an official translation. Princeton's international page says a teacher "not comfortable writing in English … may complete the forms in another language", and that "paid translations are not required." Stanford's international page says "Applicants cannot translate the documents themselves." Other colleges ask for certified or notarized translations, so the rules differ by college. Our guide to recommendation letter translation for US colleges compares seven colleges' rules.

Our view: if you can write a plain, simple English letter, do that. Short sentences with concrete details read well. A letter does not need advanced vocabulary to carry evidence.

Before you submit

• The first paragraph says what you taught, when, the class size and the student's language background.
• There is one dated "before" and one dated "after".
• The letter shows what the student did to improve.
• English is described, not graded, and nothing contradicts the test scores.
• No mention of accent.
• No marks list and no college named.
• Your "Quality of writing" rating matches what the letter shows.
• 1,000 words or fewer. Our guide to how long a letter of recommendation should be compares typical lengths.

Questions about teacher letters for ESL students

Should I mention that English is the student's second language?

Yes, once, as context, in the first paragraph. It explains why the growth you describe matters.

Should the letter say the student's English is fluent?

Only describe what the student does in English. Colleges such as BU "review your subscores for consistency", so a general claim that the scores do not support helps nobody.

Can I write the letter in my own language?

Princeton allows it with an official translation, and says "paid translations are not required". Stanford requires English translations and says applicants cannot translate them. Check each college.

How long should the letter be?

The form's cap is 1,000 words and it sets no minimum. Our constructed sample is 320 words.

What if the student's English did not improve much?

Then write about something else you saw: reasoning, persistence, effect on classmates. Common App's tips say "It's okay to say no" if you cannot write a supportive letter. If you also teach the essay itself, teaching the college essay to ESL students has a four-week unit.

Get a free review of your teacher letter

Get a free Quick Review of your teacher letter against GradPilot's Common App teacher evaluation rubric. It reads for how you know the student, anecdotes rather than adjectives, a letter only this student could get, growth you watched happen and what the student adds to the room. Counselors writing for the same student can use the counselor letter guide for international students, and the student's own essay guides are in the Common App essays hub.

GradPilot's letter reviews aren't for a letter you drafted for a recommender to submit as their own.

Sources

Retrieved October 30, 2026.

• Common App, Teacher recommendation, 2025–26 print preview (hosted by Harvard College): form purpose, ratings rows, 1,000-word evaluation.
• Common App, Writing guide for counselors and teachers (September 2026): teacher growth entry.
• Common App, Writing effective letters of recommendation (September 2026): anecdotes, candor, form letters, no recap, saying no.
• Common App, Recommender guide: one-and-done submission.
• Penn Admissions, International Applicants: Duolingo English Test consistency.
• Boston University Admissions, International Applicants: subscore consistency.
• Princeton Office of Admission, International Students: forms in another language; paid translations not required.
• Stanford Undergraduate Admission, International Applicants: translation of teacher recommendations.