<p>Hi, I'm a Junior who lives in Belgium.
I was wondering how people who don't live in a country where english is the spoken language were managing to get their recommendation letters. I'm asking that because I read somewhere that most universities prefer it when the teacher write our letter and put it in an enveloppe where they can see that we didn't open it. And since none of the teachers I'm going to ask for the letter can write in english, what should they do ?
I've got another question : if we apply than more than one college, should the teacher write the same letter more than once ? I read that question in another thread here but I don't think that an answer was given. </p>
<p>I will answer the easier question first: if you apply to more than one school, ask your teachers to photocopy their letters several times and seal them in separate envelopes.</p>
<p>As for who does the translation, that is something that has to be figured out in between you and your recommenders. It might be translated by yourself, another teacher, or an outside person or agency, depending on what your teacher is the most comfortable with.</p>
<p>I agree with b@r!um. If you apply to more than one school, just get copies of the letters. You need to ask your teacher/counselor to do this, because you aren't supposed to see them. If one or two colleges really top your list, you might even want to ask your teachers if they can write a sentence or two about why college X is a good match for you. Or, they could simply address the letter to 'the admissions committee of college x'.</p>
<p>As for the second question, it really is up to your teacher. If possible, you should translate them. It's the easiest way, but some teachers might have a problem with that. If this is the case, you can have them professionally translated. The translator should probably state that he/she received the letter in a sealed envelope and return the translation to you in a sealed envelope as well. </p>
<p>Also, consider sending an email to all the colleges you are applying to. Ask them whether or not they actually need a translation. Some colleges are comfortable with receiving documents in a foreign language since they have someone to read them. </p>
<p>Smart of you to ask this stuff now, before it becomes a problem.</p>
<p>One problem has been addressed already (more than one school). </p>
<p>For your translation problem, go straight to the source: the universities you expect to apply to. Contact the admissions office and tell them your problem. I recommend contacting big universities regardless of whether you'll be applying to them or not because they will surely have dealt with similar situations in the past. There is no such guarantee with a smaller school</p>
<p>"If the person you ask to complete a teacher reference form or International Secondary School Report is not comfortable writing in English, they may complete the forms in another language. However, you will need to have the forms officially translated before they are submitted to the Admission Office."</p>
<p>I think it might be best you approach the specific uni's with your question since this policy might differ between schools.</p>