Pwo Karen interpreting and translation

Pwo Karen interpreting, never a substitute language

Pwo Karen and S'gaw Karen are not mutually intelligible, so we never send a S'gaw interpreter to a Pwo speaker. Burmese is not a safe fallback either: it may be a second language at best, and for people who have lived through conflict it can carry painful associations. Tell us where the client or their family comes from, or which camp they lived in, and we will find an interpreter who knows their variety.

Our interpreters work face to face at resettlement orientation, GP and hospital appointments, mental health sessions, school admissions and adult education classes, housing visits and asylum interviews. Telephone interpreting runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and video interpreting through the SILA Linguists® app or your own platform helps where local interpreters are scarce. In trauma-related work our interpreters stay calm, steady and strictly confidential, and a female or male interpreter can be requested.

Pwo Karen translation, scripts and documents

In Myanmar, Pwo Karen is written in a script derived from the Mon-Burmese alphabet with extra letters encoded in Unicode, and Eastern and Western Pwo follow different spelling traditions. Some Eastern Pwo communities use the Leke script, and speakers in Thailand often write Pwo in Thai script. We confirm variety, script and spelling before starting, deliver Unicode text and check typeset proofs, because older fonts can drop the Karen letters.

Myanmar identity and civil documents are usually in Burmese, and Thai documents in Thai, so certified translation of those papers is normally from Burmese or Thai, which we can arrange in the same project, with a signed statement of accuracy accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office and the courts. Burmese or Thai papers that American, Canadian or Australian officials need are certified to their requirements, including NAATI-certified translation in Australia. Pwo Karen translation is most often needed for health information, resettlement guidance and school letters, frequently supported by audio recordings for readers with limited literacy.

Transcription and LADO for Pwo Karen

We transcribe recorded interviews and community audio with time stamps and English translation. For asylum and immigration cases, we can also arrange language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO) through specialist linguists.

Settings for our linguists in Pwo Karen

Our vetted, trained and qualified Pwo Karen linguists can support refugee resettlement programmes, local authorities, housing providers, NHS and community mental health teams, schools and colleges, immigration solicitors and charities. One project team coordinates every booking, our linguists are vetted and work under confidentiality agreements, and data is protected under UK GDPR. Pwo Karen interpreters can assist resettlement caseworkers, clinics, schools and courts in the US, Canada and Australia, as well as in Britain.