Oromo (Afaan Oromoo) interpreting and translation

Oromo interpreters, never an Amharic substitute

Many Oromo speakers are fluent in Amharic, but language can be a sensitive matter, and many clients strongly prefer to be interviewed in Oromo. We never treat an Amharic interpreter as an acceptable substitute. Dialect matters most for clients from southern Ethiopia or Kenya, where Borana or Guji speech differs noticeably from the West Central variety heard in Addis Ababa, so we ask for the client's home area when you book.

Our Oromo interpreters work in Home Office asylum interviews and tribunal hearings, police interviews and courts, GP and hospital appointments, mental health and community support, and parent meetings at school. Some women prefer a female interpreter in healthcare, and we arrange that on request. Interpreting is available in person, by phone around the clock throughout the year, and by video on our SILA Linguists® app or the software you normally use for calls. Conferences and community events can be covered with consecutive, simultaneous or remote simultaneous interpreting.

Oromo translation in Qubee and certified Ethiopian documents

Qubee uses the Latin alphabet with digraphs such as ch, dh, ny, ph and sh. Long vowels and doubled consonants are written twice, and an apostrophe marks the glottal stop, so careless spell-checking or typesetting can change meaning. Our translators and proofreaders check every one. We translate health information, school letters, safeguarding materials and community campaigns into Oromo, and statements, letters and messages into English.

Birth certificates, kebele identity cards and school records are often issued in Amharic, sometimes with English, even for Oromo speakers. We check the actual source language of each document and provide certified translation with our signed declaration of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office and universities, and by employers. Ethiopian documents needed by American, Canadian or Australian authorities are certified in the form each specifies, NAATI-certified translation for Australia included.

Oromo transcription and LADO

We transcribe Oromo interviews, phone recordings and research audio with timings marked and an English translation supplied, flagging switches into Amharic. Language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO) is available for asylum applicants.

Sectors we support in Oromo

Our vetted, trained and qualified Oromo linguists can support immigration and asylum teams, tribunals, police and courts, NHS and mental health services, schools, community organisations and charities. You work with one project team, and each case is protected by confidentiality agreements and UK GDPR. Oromo interpreters can assist refugee hearings, immigration attorneys, hospitals and schools in the US, Canada and Australia.