<p>I am an undergraduate student and am starting to apply to programs and scholarships for the summer. I’m a little bit behind schedule, but I had to change my summer plans last minute, which is why I’m scrambling to do this in Jan rather than Nov/Dec. </p>
<p>Now here’s the real problem.</p>
<p>For this summer, I am applying to study abroad programs and grants for Mandarin. For many reasons, this is my top choice for summer 2010. **Many of the programs that I am looking at require YOUR CHINESE TEACHER to write a recommendation and evaluate your language ability. However, long story short, I have mostly been self-studying Chinese and have had only two Chinese teachers in recent memory. **</p>
<p>One is from high school - ages ago - and we did NOT get along at all. We disliked each other so much that it affected my performance and I did not do well in her class. I would NOT ask her for a recommendation if I could help it.</p>
<p>The other is current - from the class I am taking right now - and here’s the kicker, I’m related to her.</p>
<p>What should I do? In an ideal world I would ask my current teacher. I am doing well in her class by any standard (I don’t think there is any nepotism involved), and as a result she knows my current level of fluency very well. **But would it be unacceptable for her to write in support of me? **</p>
<p>I think you should ask your current teacher, related to you or not. You should also discuss with your current teacher whether there is another, unrelated teacher, who could meet with you and interview you in the language, and perhaps review some of your written work and offer an independent assessment.</p>
<p>I don’t think that an assessment from someone who taught you years ago would be considered to accurately reflect your current level of expertise.</p>
<p>Lots of small towns (like mine) have local teachers’ families–including their kids–in residence. At some point, having relatives as teachers might be unavoidable. Only one person teaches certain languages, or certain languages at certain levels in our HS. Unless their kids wish to completely avoid the language, they will inevitably end up with a relative as a teacher.</p>
<p>In the OP’s case, one can see how in many areas qualified Mandarin teachers may not be thick on the ground.</p>
<p>Have your current teacher write the rec.<br>
Have her disclose the familiy relationship.<br>
Offer to do a phone interview in Mandarin with any program that has concerns about your fluency.</p>
<p>Teacher’s having their own kids in class definitely happens here. It’s a small district in a small town. If the pre-calc teacher, for example, couldn’t have his own daughter in class then his daughter couldn’t take pre-calc at all.</p>
<p>I had my dad as a professor in two classes in college. I worked my butt off to get an A in his class! Nobody could claim he favored me. I think he was harder on me than on the other students. Normally, he would have been my supervising professor for my master’s thesis, also, but he decided another professor should take over that role.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your suggestions. I thought I would clarify the situation for those of you who were confused. It’s true that most colleges aren’t too excited about students studying with their relatives, and my college is probably no exception. But the particular Chinese course I am taking was offered only by one teacher, who just happens to be related to me. I needed to take the course because it is a prerequisite to another course I hope to take in the future for my major. So I really didn’t have any choice except to study with my relative. To be honest, if I did have a choice, I’d probably pick another professor. I love the relative in question, but having her as a teacher just feels kinda weird! I work twice as hard in her class, because I feel that if she thinks I’m not putting in enough effort, she’ll probably tell my other relatives! And then they would all call me… “I heard you aren’t studying enough!!! What, you think money grows in trees? Where do you think your tuition is coming from!?” LOL. Gotta love Asian families.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’ll take your suggestions of asking my current teacher to write the recommendation. I think I’ll ask her to disclose the relationship too, as siliconvalleymom suggested, so that there will be no question of trying to slip one under the system!</p>