Luganda interpreting and translation

Luganda interpreters who respect the register

Luganda has rich forms of greeting and respect, especially towards elders, and our interpreters render them appropriately rather than flattening them. They also understand the noun-class pattern behind names: Muganda, Baganda, Buganda, Luganda and Kiganda. Speakers of Lusoga, Runyankore and other Ugandan languages sometimes use Luganda as a second language, so for detailed legal or medical work we check that it really is the client's strongest language.

We provide face-to-face Luganda interpreting for sexual health and HIV clinics, maternity care, GP surgeries, police interviews, courts, immigration appointments and schools, and remote interpreting by phone at any hour or by video. Many clients prefer an interpreter of the same gender for intimate health matters, which we arrange on request. For church gatherings, community health events and training days we can also provide consecutive interpreting for groups.

Luganda translation

Ugandan birth certificates, academic records and court documents are issued in English, so Luganda translation is mainly for health information, consent forms, school letters, church and community notices, and evidence such as letters and messages. We translate in both directions, and certified English versions carry a signed declaration of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office, the courts and universities, and by employers.

Written Luganda follows a fairly consistent standard: long vowels and double consonants are written double, because they change meaning, and the letter ŋ is used. Our typesetters make sure fonts and online forms display ŋ correctly. Luganda is tonal, so where wording is ambiguous on the page our translators choose phrasing that leaves no doubt.

Transcription and LADO

Luganda speech used as evidence, from police interviews to phone recordings, is transcribed with time codes and translated into English, with English code-switching marked. Where Ugandan origin is disputed in an asylum claim, specialist LADO analysis can be commissioned.

Sectors we support in Luganda

Our vetted, trained and qualified Luganda linguists can support sexual health and NHS services, immigration and asylum advisers, police and the courts, schools and family support teams, churches and community organisations. SILA Linguists® assigns one coordinator to your request, and every vetted linguist works under a non-disclosure agreement and UK GDPR.