Translation

Translation is the conversion of the written language from one language, the source language, to another language which we call the target language. Our services are usually charged based on a per-word rate and the total number of words in the document.

A-List Communication offers document translation of all kinds but we specialize in legal and business translation.

Translation Project Highlights:

  • 2020 to 2023 – Translated marketing collateral, manuals and training documents of specialized telecommunications and communications equipment developed by programs of CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission), such as DDTP (Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program) and California Connect, for persons with disabilities in multiple languages.
  • 2022 – Provided translation, transcription and interpretation services for the first Chinese couturier Guo Pei during her first major exhibit and other related events such as the Virtual Wednesdays and On the Edge Night events at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Legion of Honor.
  • 2021 – Prepared an audio and written presentation for City of San Francisco’s Environmental Impact Report, a Housing Plan 2023-2031 proposal, for the Chinese communities. This proposal was adopted in 2022 by San Francisco resulting in the funding of $117 million to build 82,000 affordable housing units in the city from 2022 to 2030.
  • 2020 – Prepared multilingual educational materials about COVID-19 for CDPH (California Department of Public Health) who worked closely with CDC. In this capacity, A-List translated and transcribed federal orders, documents and script, and provided captioning in the educational videos in 20 languages (including some very rare languages) with very fast turnaround. https://www.alistcommunication.com/a-list-communication-working-with-cdph-during-onset-of-covid-19/
  • 2020 – Translated large volume (over 110k words) of PG&E bankruptcy order documents expeditiously to allow the timely vote of the Spanish-speaking fire victims on the bankruptcy plan.
  • 2010 to present – Performed countless multi-lingual transcription and certified translation of discovery evidence for San Francisco Office of the Public Defender, attorneys and law firms.
  • 2019 – Translated construction contracts for California Academy of Sciences into French.
  • 2013 to 2020 – Translated quarterly and annual reports in multiple global languages (primarily from or into Spanish, French and Arabic) for TetraTech DPK to promote access, transparency and efficiency of judicial system in developing countries.
  • 2017 – Translated anti-smoking campaigns for Department of Public Health.
  • 2014 to 2016 – participated in a multilingual communication (from English to Chinese, Spanish and Farsi ) rollout to workers and the general public for the new minimum wage labor law standards for various Bay Area municipalities.
  • 2012 – translated websites in different languages for law firms. Example: https://achlaw.com.

Translation that needs certification and/or notarization

If you need certification and/or notarization for your document, please see details here:

You may have documents that need certification/notarization. Examples of these documents are: certified translations of official and immigration documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate and death certificates, diplomas, letters of recommendation, academic records, court rulings, contracts and agreements. We are currently offering this type of translation in languages such as Chinese, Spanish, French, Japanese and German.  Please inquire if your required language isn’t listed.  We do offer certified translation of some other languages.  We can provide a notarized certification to accompany the translation. There is a minimum fee for this type of translation, and your payment has to be received by us first before we commence any project.

For A-List Communication to handle this type of request, please follow these steps:

  1. Please first email us your source document(s) to be translated in digital format such as JPEG or PDF.  The source document(s) are scanned copies of your document(s) in the source language.  For example, if you want your document in Spanish to be translated into English.  The source language is Spanish and the target language is English.
  2. In the body of your email to us, please include your name, the source and target languages of the translation, the purpose of the translation (i.e. immigration purpose), which U.S. government entity will be needing the translation, and any special instructions such as a preferred deadline. We will need your mailing address if you are ordering a notarization because the original copies of the notarization and translator’s declaration will be mailed to you.  There will be a fee for translation, notarization and certification respectively. For rush projects, there may be a fee for express mailing.
  3. We will respond to you with a quote (fees and proposed turnaround time) at our earliest convenience in an agreement.  We can only provide you a quote after reviewing the source document.
  4. If you accept our fees/terms, please sign the agreement and remit advance payment by Venmo, credit card or ACH before we start the translation project.
  5. Once the translation is completed, we will provide a certification (Translator’s Declaration of Accuracy) to certify that our translation is accurate along with the translation.  We issue electronic certifications only. We will deliver your certified translation in PDF via email.
  6.  If you have ordered the notarization service, you will receive it via regular postal mail unless you choose a different delivery service.  Please keep in mind that the turnaround time would be longer if we mail you any original copies. In some cases, we may have to use express mailing services such as FedEx.

Our Language Specialties

Asian Languages

  • Chinese
    • Cantonese
    • Mandarin
    • Shanghainese
    • Toysanese
    • Fukianese/Taiwanese
    • Hakkanese
  • Indian
    • Hindi
    • Punjabi
    • Gujarati
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Urdu
  • Pashto
  • Mongolian

Southeast Asian

  • Burmese
  • Cambodian
  • Hmong
  • Laotian
  • Malay
  • Mien
  • Indonesian
  • Philipino
    • Tagalog
    • Ceboano
    • Ilocano
  • Thai
  • Vietnamese
  • Tongan

Other Languages

  • Albanian
  • Amharic
  • Arabic
  • Armenian
  • Assyrian
  • Bosnian
  • Bulgarian
  • Creole
  • Croatian
  • Dari
  • Eritrean
  • Farsi
  • Finnish
  • Guosa
  • Hebrew
  • Samoan
  • Swahili
  • Igbo
  • Tigrinian
  • Turkish

European Languages

  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Latin
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Spanish
  • Swedish