Review - New Independent Korean Guide/Interpreter
- Thread starter chocolateandsamoyeds
- Start date
TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others
I only went to 2 clinics, the discount I got from one would've offset the fees by 4x. But I couldn't take it in the end by no fault of hers, I just couldn't deliver on the agreed conditions
Also an honest opinion, I spoke to Selena recently and I’d say she’s great! You can tell when speaking with her she’s very sincere and genuine in her response. I’d say she’s a female caliber of Ryan and Jude, who we all know are really great translators already. (I’ll be honest I spoke with all 3 of them as I’m the type who always need to make a more informed decision for anything - and in this case it can only be done via speaking with them personally and getting to know them better)
So for those who are more comfortable having a female translator, you can be assured that Selena is a top choice!
Thank you for the information!
I looked for her on kkt (sjungh) and couldn't find her. Are you communicating with her on kkt at this id?
Did you need to have Selena for your follow up appointments like when you have your stitches removed?
I'm currently in Seoul with my husband, and I hired Selena as my translator for my consultations and 2 surgeries I'm getting done. I initially thought as well I might not need one (I can speak basic Korean) but honestly having gone through a few consultations now I recommend getting one just for less stress. Anecdotally I also feel like clinics are more likely to give you competitive prices if you have a local with you rather than an in house interpreter. If you're not comfortable going with an independent interpreter, the Gangnam Medical Center services seem really good too.
As for Selena, as the OP said I've found her really responsive and caring, pricing is transparent and her English is really good. It feels like I have a friend with me and she's offered to help me order the food that I need after my double jaw surgery. Sadly the app she initially recommended I try for delivery no longer lets you order without providing authentication (eg KSSN) but she's offered to help. I'll write up a more detailed review towards the end of my trip!
As for Selena, as the OP said I've found her really responsive and caring, pricing is transparent and her English is really good. It feels like I have a friend with me and she's offered to help me order the food that I need after my double jaw surgery. Sadly the app she initially recommended I try for delivery no longer lets you order without providing authentication (eg KSSN) but she's offered to help. I'll write up a more detailed review towards the end of my trip!
Hi @milkyuwu what are the full scope of services provided by Selena? Does did she do any of the following for you making reservations, negotiating prices (do you have to pay her a bonus?), researching clinics and treatments, and helping with things like taxis, and other conveniences helping to get medication, food services, etc...
For me I mainly used her service as an interpreter for consultations, the day of surgery, and follow up days where I have to go back to the clinic. She did also help us with getting prescriptions from the pharmacy.
She does help with negotiating prices and as far as I know didn’t charge extra for it. I did decide to give her a small bonus out of my own will for how much she helped me save but it wasn’t required.
She did offer to help us order food if we needed it, I asked her to help me order a bunch of stuff I needed from Coupang (KR’s version of Amazon). We didn’t order any food delivery through Selena though, we just went out to eat or my husband picks it up if I’m not feeling like walking. Ordering taxis is pretty easy to do yourself as well: you need a Kakao account and to download the Kakao T app. Then you can just order a cab via General Request and choose the pay in person option, since they don’t accept foreign credit cards in the app.
I also didn’t ask her to do any research. You might have to ask her if she would help there. What I did was to mainly look at Gangnam Unni and search for the clinic or doctor names on Naver to see if I could find anything. Ultimately though reviews are going to be unique to each person’s case so you kinda have to go with your gut with which doctor you trust. I personally only chose doctors who specialize in a single procedure rather than generalists because they have so much more experience with complications and difficult cases, which put me at ease
So i hired Ryan and he does the things you mentioned, I know it can be stressful to arrange appointments but Ryan did it for me with such a neat schedule!
Ryan ghosted me...I contacted him to help with a few clinics and some were already booked in advance....I told him im ok with the payment and he was responsive at the start which gave me false hopes....He asked me if I wanted him to add BT and The Hada but suddenly decided to disappear and left me on read and stopped reading after 22nd Dec....He called only one clinic (not BT/Hada) and told me they were not available and I contacted The Hada personally and they told me Ryan didnt contact them at all....Some might say maybe my messages were long/etc but I think as a professional freelance he shouldve rejected me or at least said he was busy as I thought something bad had happened to him and worried for nothing after I realised he was still responsive to other girls and he decided to ignore me completely...This led to an extremely bad taste in my mouth as at least the other translator had the decency to tell me she got double booked and while one didnt reply at least she didnt give me false hopes like what Ryan did
Hi!
Can you share the names of the popular foreigner clinics + the popular local ones? I would love to be able to cross reference. TYIA!