Ch'ol interpreting and translation

Ch'ol interpreting services

The Tila and Tumbalá varieties differ in some sounds and vocabulary but are mutually intelligible, so knowing the client's home municipality lets us choose the closest match. Ch'ol is not mutually intelligible with Tzeltal or Tzotzil, the other large Mayan languages of Chiapas, and interpreters for those languages are not substitutes, however convenient they might seem. If a family has moved from Chiapas to Tabasco or Campeche, tell us where the parents grew up as well as where the client lives now.

Spanish is widely spoken alongside Ch'ol, but in health and legal settings people often prefer Ch'ol. Outside Mexico, relay through Spanish and remote interpreting are the usual arrangements: a video link on the SILA Linguists® app or the conferencing platforms you already use, and an over-the-phone service that never closes. Police interviews, court hearings and immigration interviews are interpreted consecutively, and for maternal health and family matters a female interpreter can be requested.

Ch'ol translation and certified translation

Written Ch'ol uses Roman letters, with an apostrophe for glottalised consonants and the letter ä for a central vowel, as in Lakty'añ. Spelling conventions vary somewhat between publishers, so we confirm the one your readers know. We translate health leaflets, school materials, community programme documents and personal statements, into and out of English.

Birth, marriage and court records from Chiapas or Tabasco will be in Spanish; we certify the English translation with a signed declaration of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as tribunals, the Home Office and schools, and by employers.

Transcription, subtitling and language analysis

Ch'ol interviews, statements and community recordings come back from us as time-coded transcripts with an English version, and we also prepare subtitles for education and documentary video, including material connected with the Palenque area and its Classic Maya heritage. Where an asylum claim depends on where someone grew up, specialist LADO analysis of their Ch'ol speech is also available.

Sectors we support in Ch'ol

Our vetted, trained and qualified Ch'ol linguists can support hospitals and clinics, courts, solicitors and police, immigration services, schools and community education programmes, and researchers. A single SILA Linguists® coordinator looks after each booking, and our linguists sign non-disclosure agreements and follow UK GDPR in everything they handle.