Itza' interpreting and translation

Interpreting with Itza' elders

Because nearly all Itza' speakers also speak Spanish, interpreting is rarely needed for everyday services. Where it is wanted, for example to record oral history, consult elders or hold a community meeting, we work with community members and Spanish relay into English. Sessions with elderly speakers should be short and paced to suit them, with breaks and time to recall, and our interpreters are briefed accordingly.

Remote video, through the SILA Linguists® app or your own conferencing tool, links researchers abroad with speakers in San José, and a phone line can be set up at any time. We also provide consecutive interpreting for community meetings. Yucatec Maya and Mopan speakers can follow some Itza', but not well enough to replace an Itza' speaker, so we do not offer them as substitutes.

Translation for revitalisation and heritage

Itza' is written in Guatemala's official Mayan alphabet. Our Itza' translators are prepared for revitalisation materials, classroom resources, signage, museum and tourism content, and research outputs. We consult community language specialists so that terminology and spelling match local usage, and we can translate English or Spanish source texts and review existing Itza' material.

Where a project also needs certified translation of Spanish documents, such as agreements or permits, we provide it with a signed accuracy statement, accepted by UK authorities, universities and funders.

Transcription and documentation

Documentation is central to keeping an endangered language alive. We transcribe recordings of elders' speech, stories and conversations with time codes, an English or Spanish version and notes on words that need community confirmation. Subtitles help bring recordings to classrooms and visitor centres in Petén and audiences further afield. Where recordings include older Spanish place names or references to Nojpetén and the lake, we note them so that historians can trace them.

Sectors we support in Itza'

Our vetted, trained and qualified Itza' linguists can support schools and community language classes, universities and documentation teams, museums, heritage and tourism projects, and consultations with the community. SILA Linguists® assigns one coordinator to each project, and every linguist works under a confidentiality agreement and UK GDPR, respecting the trust that elders place in those who record them.