Mende interpreting and translation

Mende interpreting by home district

Tell us your client's home district and we will choose an interpreter familiar with their dialect, whether Kpa Mende in the west or the eastern varieties. Many Mende speakers also use Krio, and some speak English well, but the client decides which language they are most comfortable with. In police and court work, mutation and tone mean that names and places can sound different from their written spelling, so our interpreters check these points carefully.

Remote interpreting by video or telephone runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with video through the SILA Linguists® app or the software you normally use for calls. Face-to-face interpreting is available for court hearings, hospital and mental health appointments, and housing and council meetings. International development projects can book consecutive or simultaneous interpreting for workshops and consultations, and a female or male interpreter can be requested. For housing or benefits meetings, our interpreters also explain unfamiliar British terms back into Mende with a plain description, while keeping the official wording on the record.

Mende translation and certified documents

Modern Mende spelling uses Latin letters including ɛ and ɔ. We prepare Mende versions of leaflets, consent forms, housing information and recorded audio messages, and translate statements and letters into English.

Most official documents from Sierra Leone and Liberia are issued in English. Where a Mende document must be presented to an authority, our certified translation carries a signed confirmation of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office, courts and universities, and by employers. Sierra Leonean papers for American immigration come with a signed certificate of accuracy.

Transcription and LADO

Police interview recordings, voice notes and research interviews in Mende are transcribed with timings marked and an English translation supplied, with Krio passages marked and names checked against written forms. For asylum applicants, SILA Linguists® can provide language analysis for determining origin (LADO). Consonant mutation is handled consistently so that the same person or village is never spelled two ways in one transcript.

Sectors we support in Mende

Our vetted, trained and qualified Mende linguists can support courts and police, hospitals and mental health services, housing teams and councils, and international development organisations. A single coordinator, vetted linguists and strict confidentiality under NDAs and UK GDPR support every booking. Mende interpreting is available to US immigration courts and attorneys, hospitals and schools, as well as UK services.