Mam interpreting and translation

Mam interpreters matched by municipality and village

Mam has considerable dialect variation. Speakers from Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Ixtahuacán, Comitancillo, Concepción Chiquirichapa or Ostuncalco may use different words and pronunciation, and understanding between distant varieties is not always easy. Please give us the client's home municipality and, ideally, their village. A short comprehension check at the start of the session then confirms the match.

In immigration and legal proceedings, limited communication in Mam can affect a person's ability to explain their circumstances. Good practice means confirming the language before a hearing, allowing time for consecutive interpreting and never relying on a client's limited Spanish.

We offer Mam interpreters in person where linguists are local, by video through the SILA Linguists® app or your platform, and by telephone at any hour. Mothers attending maternity appointments can ask for a female interpreter, and farm or factory employers can book interpreters for safety briefings and labour meetings.

Mam translation and certified translation

Mam is written with the official Mayan alphabet, with apostrophes for glottalised consonants. Because vocabulary varies between regions, we agree the target dialect before translating, or choose widely understood terms for materials aimed at all Mam speakers, such as rights notices and health leaflets.

Guatemalan and Mexican civil documents are issued in Spanish. We certify English translations of them with a signed accuracy statement, accepted by UK authorities such as tribunals, the Home Office and schools, and by employers. For Canadian files we can provide translation by a provincially certified translator; for American ones, a signed translator's certificate of accuracy. Village and family names, which Mam speakers may spell in several ways, are kept consistent across every document in a case file.

Transcription and origin analysis

We transcribe Mam interviews and recorded evidence with time codes and an English version, noting the variety. For asylum claims where origin is disputed, specialist language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO) is available.

Sectors we support in Mam

Our vetted, trained and qualified Mam linguists can support immigration and asylum services, courts, police, hospitals and maternity units, schools, social services and employers. SILA Linguists® gives each case one coordinator, and all linguists sign non-disclosure agreements and work within UK GDPR. Our Mam interpreters can work with American immigration judges and attorneys, with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, and with hospitals and schools on both sides of that border.