Afrikaans Interpreter in Canterbury

Afrikaans interpreters in Canterbury

Afrikaans Interpreting Services in Canterbury

We provide professional Afrikaans interpreters in and around Canterbury for GP and hospital appointments, solicitors, tribunals, Home Office interviews and family meetings, in person or by telephone and video.

Most South Africans who settle in Britain arrive as working adults with English from school and university, and never think of booking an interpreter. The people who do need an Afrikaans interpreter tend to be the ones around them: a mother or father over on a long visit, someone who grew up on a farm in the Northern Cape where English was a subject rather than a daily language, a Namibian for whom Afrikaans was the language of the street. Then there is the fluent English speaker who, when a doctor or a barrister starts asking hard questions, wants to answer in the language they think in.

Looking for an Afrikaans interpreter in Canterbury? Call us now on 0800 2425 125 or email quotes@uklinguisticservices.co.uk, and mention if the speaker is from Namibia rather than South Africa.

Local Afrikaans Interpreters Around Canterbury

The census shows Afrikaans spread widely across outer London and the Home Counties rather than concentrated in one district, with Merton, Buckinghamshire and Sevenoaks at the top of the list. Bilingual South Africans are easy to find; trained interpreters are fewer. For Canterbury we try for someone in person first. Video is a good fallback, and because South Africa is only one or two hours ahead of the UK, an interpreter there can join during normal office hours.

Afrikaans to English Interpreter in Canterbury

Afrikaans speakers call older people "oom" and "tannie", uncle and aunt, whether or not they are related. A witness who talks about "Oom Johan" may mean a neighbour, an employer or a man from church. Rendered literally in a statement, that becomes a family relationship that does not exist. A good interpreter asks, and gives the court or the social worker the real connection.

Afrikaans Court and Legal Interpreter in Canterbury

Afrikaans negation comes in two parts: "Ek het hom nie gesien nie" means simply "I did not see him", and the second "nie" adds nothing. Somebody with half-remembered school Afrikaans can misread a long sentence built this way, which is why statements and interviews under caution should be interpreted by a professional, not by a relative who "speaks it a bit".

Afrikaans Medical Interpreter in Canterbury

Parents who fall ill halfway through a long visit account for many of our Afrikaans medical bookings. Plenty of older South Africans are used to private medical aid, where a patient can often go straight to a specialist. A wait for a GP referral can feel like being turned away, and an interpreter who explains each step of the NHS route plainly saves a lot of upset at the bedside.

Afrikaans Interpreters Near You in Canterbury

Canterbury has two court buildings, and children cases appear in the lists of both, so the address on the notice decides where the interpreter goes. Canterbury Magistrates' Court on Broad Street hears criminal cases, children cases and domestic violence matters. Canterbury Combined Court Centre, in The Law Courts on Chaucer Road, takes criminal work as well as county court and family business: money claims, housing possession, bankruptcy, divorce, adoption and children cases, with a High Court district registry on site. For an employment or social security case, the nearest tribunal hearing centre is at Ashford House in Ashford, about 13 miles south-west.

Kent and Canterbury Hospital, about a mile south of the centre, is one of five hospitals run by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. The trust's other sites are William Harvey in Ashford, QEQM in Margate, Buckland in Dover and the Royal Victoria in Folkestone, and a letter from the trust can name any of them, so confirm the site before the interpreter sets off. St Martins Hospital, about a mile east, is a mental health site run by Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust. Canterbury City Council governs the city, and Kent Police covers the whole county.

The Canterbury district had about 157,400 residents at the 2021 Census. Two universities, the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, add a large student population, and students book interpreters for GP visits, tenancy problems and police matters like anyone else. The city has two stations, Canterbury West and Canterbury East, both served by Southeastern. Folkestone lies about 14 miles south, Dover about 14 miles south-east, Margate about 15 miles north-east, and Maidstone and Chatham some 24 to 25 miles west.

Afrikaans Interpreters for Law Firms, the NHS and Councils in Canterbury

We provide professional interpreting services in and around Canterbury to public and private organisations, including law firms, the NHS, life sciences, oil and gas, technical industries, local councils and courts. We have fully vetted Afrikaans interpreters who are registered with professional bodies such as the NRPSI, DPSI, NRCPD and CIOL. Our Afrikaans interpreters in Canterbury are fully professional and competent to handle interpreting assignments for both public and private organisations.

Having trouble communicating with Afrikaans speakers? Our Afrikaans interpreters in Canterbury are qualified, experienced professionals who interpret from Afrikaans to English and from English to Afrikaans, so you can communicate confidently with your legal, medical or business clients at all times.

Our experience of Afrikaans interpreting covers these sectors:

• Afrikaans legal interpreting in Canterbury
• Afrikaans medical interpreting in Canterbury
• Afrikaans financial interpreting in Canterbury
• Afrikaans business interpreting in Canterbury
• Afrikaans police interpreting in Canterbury

UK Linguistic Services is your one-stop translation company for all your Afrikaans communication needs. We offer cost-effective, qualified interpreting to all our clients in Canterbury, across the UK and around the world, and our Afrikaans interpreting in Canterbury is proven to be the best among all translation companies in Canterbury.

Afrikaans Translators in Canterbury

Our extensive linguist network across the UK lets us provide local Afrikaans translators in Canterbury, available round the clock, 365 days a year. Our translators are trained to provide a hassle-free professional service and work with your terminology, so your documents are clear and accurate.

Afrikaans Translation Services in Canterbury

We also provide top-class Afrikaans translation services in Canterbury for legal documents, health reports, business documents, personal certificates, websites and more. Wherever you are, send us the documents you need translated, and we will turn them around within 24 hours and deliver them back to you.

Our team members are fully trained to give all our clients the best customer service at all times, and our experience of handling hundreds of interpreting assignments every week helps us meet our customers' demands.

Afrikaans Interpreter in Canterbury: Questions

My mother speaks English but falls back on Afrikaans when she is unwell. Can you send an interpreter to Canterbury?

Yes. That is one of the commonest reasons families book us. Tell the ward or surgery that an interpreter is coming, so time is allowed for it.

Can an Afrikaans interpreter in Canterbury also help someone from Namibia?

Yes. Namibian Afrikaans is understood without difficulty. Some Namibians are more at home in Oshiwambo or German, though, so ask first.

Do you translate South African certificates too?

Yes. We provide certified English translations of Afrikaans birth, marriage and school certificates for UK use.