1. To Whom It May Concern June, 2016
Re: Mr Alex Hui Bon Hoa
Alex came to Guizhou Forerunner College (GFC) in Guizhou, China in August, 2015,
and has been with us until now. He plans to leave at the end of this summer.
Guizhou Forerunner College is a private, non-profit making post-secondary technical
college that aims at providing high-quality education to students from rural areas in
Guizhou and elsewhere in the country. Every year, the College recruits a number of
volunteers from all over the world, and many of these come to Guizhou for a year or
two to teach English and to provide help in other areas.
Alex is one of these volunteers. In the last nine months or so, he has proved himself
to be a devoted, hardworking and responsible teacher. He is organized, efficient,
and delivers his lessons in a clear, succinct, and systematic manner. His classes are
well-planned, innovative, creative, and provide a lot of opportunities for students to
interact with each other. I have observed a few of his classes over the year, and have
truly enjoyed them.
Outside the classroom, Alex spends a lot of time with his students and is very popular
among them. Besides giving them extra tutorials, he is often seen eating with
students in the cafeteria or playing sports with them in the gym. He is a keen
basketball player and practices with his students on a daily basis. He also runs a
Frisbee club that has attracted much interest.
As a colleague, Alex is sociable, collegial, and helpful. He is always ready to lend a
helping hand, and is willing to go the extra mile, when there is a need to do so. He is
well liked by other foreign volunteers as well as the local Chinese staff. He has also
formed deep and sturdy friendships with several colleagues.
Alex has matured a great deal as a result of his volunteering experience at GFC.
He has developed a deeper understanding of how people from different social and
cultural backgrounds behave, and how they act (or react) in various situations; he has
gained a greater awareness of his own strengths and limitations; he has also acquired
useful skills that will stand him in good stead in the long run – for example, his
…2

2. teaching skills has been honed, his spoken and written Chinese has greatly improved.
I’m sure he will bring what he has gained this year – cross-cultural sensitivity,
self-awareness, as well as pedagogical and language skills – to the next stage in his
life, to his next job.
Alex is a young man with tremendous potentials. He is a gifted teacher and a
wonderful person. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be a great asset to any
prospective employer.
I recommend him without reservation.
Yours sincerely,
Max Hui-Bon-Hoa
Max Hui-Bon-Hoa, PhD
Director
English Education Center
Guizhou Forerunner College
Guizhou, China
(Former) Senior Lecturer & Acting Director
Centre for Applied English Studies
University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong SAR, China