Khmer interpreting and translation

Khmer interpreting with respect and patience

Khmer has separate registers for ordinary people, monks and royalty, and our interpreters use the respectful forms elders and religious contexts require. Some older clients lived through the Khmer Rouge period, and a medical history, a mental health assessment or a legal interview can bring back painful memories. Our Khmer interpreters take a calm, trauma-aware approach and give clients time to answer.

Khmer interpreting is available face to face for hospital appointments, counselling, family visa interviews, solicitors' meetings and community services, and remotely by telephone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or by video using the SILA Linguists® app or your own platform. For development programmes, project workshops and business visits to Cambodia, we provide consecutive and escort interpreters, as well as remote simultaneous interpreting for online events. Female or male interpreters can be requested.

Khmer script, documents and certified translation

Khmer is written left to right with subscript consonants and no spaces between words, so line breaks need Khmer-aware software and fonts that stack consonants correctly. Cambodian documents often use Khmer numerals and sometimes give dates in the traditional lunar calendar; our translators convert both accurately.

We translate Cambodian birth, marriage and identity documents, academic records, police certificates and court papers into English, following the passport spelling of names, which are usually written family name first. Certified Khmer translation includes a signed statement of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office, courts and universities, and by employers. Cambodian documents bound for the United States, Canada or Australia can be certified as each authority asks, from a signed US certificate of accuracy to NAATI-certified translation. Into Khmer, we produce health information, consent forms and public notices, and translate project reports and agreements for NGOs and companies working in Cambodia.

Khmer transcription

Recorded interviews, research and evaluation fieldwork, testimony and community audio can be transcribed in Khmer with time stamps and an English translation, with Sanskrit- and Pali-derived religious terms explained where they matter to the meaning.

Khmer language support by sector

Our vetted, trained and qualified Khmer interpreters and translators can support NHS and community mental health teams, immigration advisers, solicitors and courts, social services, community organisations, international development agencies and businesses with projects in Cambodia. With SILA Linguists® you have one project team, vetted linguists, confidentiality agreements and UK GDPR protection from booking to delivery. Khmer interpreting is also available to American, Canadian and Australian courts, immigration lawyers, hospitals and community health teams.