Translation and Certification of Documents

[Askr]

I felt your use of "ripped off" was inappropriate,

Huh, inappropriate?? Please explain Yuli ??!
What i actually said was:

Ripped off?

Note the question mark. I'll have to translate the meaning: "Was i ripped off?"
Someone in this post said they got it for 750NT and thus it's a legitimate question. If i paid more than double (1800NT) - am i being "ripped off"?

I don't mind paying a proper fee for a professional translator but im new to Taiwan so i don't know what the rates should be.

[yuli]

Someone in this post said they got it for 750NT and thus it's a legitimate question. If i paid more than double (1800NT) - am i being "ripped off"?

You're looking for a good service for a price that you find acceptable, OK. That's very understandable and "legitimate" by any and all standards.

But what does "legitimate" really mean when instead of asking the perfectly obvious question "is there a cheaper service provider?" you ask a question that translates into "was i deceived?" or "was i cheated?". Were you? Is there anything strange, unethical, or illegal about a certain service costing more in one place than in another one? Did the notary office that charged you NT$1800 deceive you about the fee? Or did they perhaps deliver an inferior product or otherwise cheat you? Or did they perform the service you needed to your satisfacton? Why does it seem legitimate that the service provider you dealt with should deserve your contempt just because you were not sufficiently informed about the larger market situation?

If you define the fact that different translators and notaries are openly advertising and charging different fees for a certain service as "rip off", then it seems perfectly fair to me to define any translation service that costs more than what Google charges (zero) as "ripping off" its customers. After all, you only paid 2.4 times what someone else said they paid (information that has not been substantiated yet) while both of you paid infinite times the amount that Google charges.

Anyway, compared to the project you are working on that all is really an insignificant matter - it was just a sideways comment, related to some minor irritation at that moment...

I don't mind paying a proper fee for a professional translator but im new to Taiwan so i don't know what the rates should be.

There is no reason to believe that rates for translation and notarization should be anything in particular - they are what they are (perhaps in this case in a range from NT$750 to NT$1800, or, if you include Google, from NT$0 to NT$1800 ).
Your search for the lowest possible rate is fine with me, as I said (and why should it not be?). That does not mean that you were ripped off...

[Askr]

Another pointless and unhelpful Forumosa post
Well done Yuli

Someone in this post said they got it for 750NT and thus it's a legitimate question. If i paid more than double (1800NT) - am i being "ripped off"?

You're looking for a good service for a price that you find acceptable, OK. That's very understandable and "legitimate" by any and all standards.

But what does "legitimate" really mean when instead of asking the perfectly obvious question "is there a cheaper service provider?" you ask a question that translates into "was i deceived?" or "was i cheated?". Were you? Is there anything strange, unethical, or illegal about a certain service costing more in one place than in another one? Did the notary office that charged you NT$1800 deceive you about the fee? Or did they perhaps deliver an inferior product or otherwise cheat you? Or did they perform the service you needed to your satisfacton? Why does it seem legitimate that the service provider you dealt with should deserve your contempt just because you were not sufficiently informed about the larger market situation?

If you define the fact that different translators and notaries are openly advertising and charging different fees for a certain service as "rip off", then it seems perfectly fair to me to define any translation service that costs more than what Google charges (zero) as "ripping off" its customers. After all, you only paid 2.4 times what someone else said they paid (information that has not been substantiated yet) while both of you paid infinite times the amount that Google charges.

Anyway, compared to the project you are working on that all is really an insignificant matter - it was just a sideways comment, related to some minor irritation at that moment...

I don't mind paying a proper fee for a professional translator but im new to Taiwan so i don't know what the rates should be.

There is no reason to believe that rates for translation and notarization should be anything in particular - they are what they are (perhaps in this case in a range from NT$750 to NT$1800, or, if you include Google, from NT$0 to NT$1800 ).
Your search for the lowest possible rate is fine with me, as I said (and why should it not be?). That does not mean that you were ripped off...

What pleasure do you gain from being an internet troll Yuli?

....while both of you paid infinite times the amount that Google charges.

As i explained earlier this translation is for a Australian visa application. I need a registered translation company to provide me with a translation.
Im sure you understand it's probably not a good idea to rely on a machine translation from a technology company's webpage for a visa application.

Fine, i wasn't "ripped off" if the turn of phrase implies the company was deceitful or underhand in any way. The company was very professional with a lawyer on staff for notarizations. Lawyers aren't cheap so im sure their rates accurately reflect the cost needed to make a profit.

I used a poor turn of phrase but the meaning was clear. Does anyone know a registered translation company that offers professional work with rates cheaper than 1800NT?

This is such a typical Forumosa thread. In 3 pages there are 3 informative posts worth reading and the rest of the thread is just filled with churlish posts by surly forum members who enjoy trolling.

It's Forumosa so no doubt the next post will be void of anything helpful. See proof in next post

[yuli]

What pleasure do you gain from being an internet troll Yuli?

I am not trolling: i answered your question - if you hadn't said anythig I would have long forgotten this thread...

As i explained earlier this translation is for a Australian visa application. I need a registered translation company to provide me with a translation.
Im sure you understand it's probably not a good idea to rely on a machine translation from a technology company's webpage for a visa application.

Of course - i realize now that we may not have met here on the BBS under the right circumstances before and so you probably don't know that i work as translator (that would better explain that little joke)...

Fine, i wasn't "ripped off" if the turn of phrase implies the company was deceitful or underhand in any way. The company was very professional with a lawyer on staff for notarizations. Lawyers aren't cheap so im sure their rates accurately reflect the cost needed to make a profit.

Understand... and that what my Google comment was hinting at...

Does anyone know a registered translation company that offers professional work with rates cheaper than 1800NT?

You and i are looking at the same thread, so let's collect the useful data:
viewtopic.php?t=65549&start=02 (NT$1500 fee and contact information)
viewtopic.php?t=65549&start=02 (contact information)
viewtopic.php?t=65549&start=04 (contact information)
viewtopic.php?t=65549&start=08 (NT$700~NT$800 fee and contact information)
viewtopic.php?t=65549&start=14 (NT$750 fee; no contact information)
So what is the sensible thing to do? Maybe call up the places where no fee had been mentioned, then consider how far you have to drive to get to any of those places and balance that information against their quoted fees and pick the one that all in all looks like the best deal? Why this talk about being ripped off and looking for more information? If you were a professional translator would you not feel inclined to send a little quip (yeah, sure, it may have been lame, but so what...) in a situation like that?

And I think our recent discussion here has added quite a bit of useful information to this thread: many people have no idea what a good quality translation and notarization costs and will now have ample information to make a good choice, don't you think so? I am actually quite amazed at how little some people charge - i certainly wouldn't do such work for less than NT$1500 a shot. Do you perhaps see now how hunting for something even less than NT$700 will sooner or later lead you to Google Translate? No joke!

And, anyway, if I was translating from and into Mandarin I would have long ago offered you my help, but at the moment that is premature, since I've just started to learn that language (i only do this kind of work from/to Japanese or German and from French or Russian at this time).
Peace!

[enn]

Does Taiwan ROC have official language/s? If so, is English an official language?

[yuli]

Does Taiwan ROC have official language/s?

Yes. (1)

If so, is English an official language?

No.

[qqclare]

For whoever need a notarization...
A notary public office in the very center of Taipei city (next to AIT, MRT Da'an)
that will help you find a translator and get you documents translated and notarized all together (fees stipulated by law)...
http://notary001.0fees.net/
TEL:02-27031900

[chris1234]

Is this still a thing that needs to be done with criminal background checks, teacher cert, diplomas, transcripts, or anything else?

My school/ recruiter talked about getting teacher cert, diplomas, and transcripts verified from TECO, but not translated. I didn't see anything on the TECO page that said it needed to be translated. No one said I needed the criminal background check verified.

If it helps anyone else, the TECOs told me you can't submit documents from one region to a TECO in a different region (even if that's where you or your family live). So if you earned your degree in Oregon, you can't get it verified in Miami.