Awakateko interpreting and translation

Awakateko and Chalchiteko interpreting

Chalchiteko was long treated as a variety of Awakateko, but Guatemala now recognises it as a separate language, although the two are still often grouped together. The two are generally mutually intelligible, yet community identity matters, and some clients will prefer an interpreter from their own community. Respecting that choice helps build trust in an interview or consultation. If the client is unsure how to describe their language, the name of their village near Aguacatán usually tells our coordinators enough.

Most Awakateko sessions are remote, either a video link in the SILA Linguists® app or a system you already run, or a phone call that can be placed at any time. Many Awakateko speakers also use Spanish, but for detailed legal or medical discussion we check their comfort level rather than relying on it. Asylum interviews, court hearings and GP appointments move in consecutive turns, and clients may say whether a woman or a man should interpret.

Awakateko translation and certified translation

Written Awakateko follows Guatemala's official Mayan alphabet, and educational and literary materials have been published in it. Apostrophes for glottalised consonants are part of the spelling and must be preserved in names and words. We translate statements, letters and information between Awakateko and English, adding an audio version where the reader prefers to listen.

Identity papers from Guatemala are in Spanish; we certify their English versions with a signed declaration of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as tribunals, the Home Office and colleges, and by employers.

Transcription and language analysis

Interviews, testimony and community recordings in Awakateko are written up with time codes and English alongside, Spanish passages labelled. Where an asylum or immigration case depends on a person's origin, LADO analysis can be commissioned; the closeness of Awakateko and Chalchiteko makes specialist handling essential.

Where we can help in Awakateko

Our vetted, trained and qualified Awakateko linguists can support asylum advisers, judges and solicitors, GP practices, schools and projects in Aguacatán itself. A single SILA Linguists® coordinator looks after each assignment, and NDAs plus UK GDPR govern everything our linguists see and hear, giving clients from a small town the discretion they need.