Afrikaans Interpreter

Prism Language Solutions provides Afrikaans interpreters for depositions and court hearings, medical appointments, refugee resettlement appointments and USCIS interviews anywhere in the United States, in person, by phone or by video. Our Afrikaans interpreters grew up in the language, and we ask whether the speaker is from the Western Cape, the Northern Cape, the Free State or Namibia before assigning one.

An Afrikaans booking often starts with a question from the person paying for it: does this client really need an interpreter? Sometimes the honest answer is no. Often it is yes, for reasons that have nothing to do with getting by at a grocery store. A witness wants her testimony recorded in the language she thinks in. A retired farmer's English does not stretch to a cardiologist explaining an arrhythmia. An attorney wants a sworn statement in the deponent's own words so nobody can later argue about what was meant.

• Certified translations prepared to meet USCIS requirements
• Human linguists only, matched to the subject
• Fixed written quote within 60 minutes in business hours
• One office in New York, linguists in every state

Afrikaans Interpreter for Refugee Resettlement Appointments

A newly resettled family meets a long list of officials in the first ninety days: the resettlement caseworker, the refugee health screening, benefits enrollment, school registration, a first primary care visit. Ask each adult in the household which language they want for these meetings, not just the one who made the first phone call. A caseworker who assumes the whole family is fluent in English can miss the grandmother who is not following.

Video works well for most of these appointments and can be booked at short notice. For the health screening or a benefits interview with forms to explain, an interpreter in the room is often worth the extra planning.

Afrikaans Deposition and Court Interpreter

Much of our Afrikaans legal work is civil: depositions and arbitration involving South African companies, estate disputes over property in South Africa, and family matters with a spouse or grandparent abroad. Afrikaans has no state court certification exam anywhere in the country. A qualified interpreter is accepted on the record instead, and the interpreter's background reaches counsel before the date.

South African legal vocabulary is its own world. A witness talking about the magistrate's court, the Master of the High Court, an antenuptial contract or a sequestration uses terms a general interpreter may never have met, and the interpreter has to render them precisely and say so when English has no equivalent. Exhibits in Afrikaans can be sight-translated into the record or handled as certified translations by our Afrikaans translation team. See court interpreting.

Afrikaans Interpreter, Not a Dutch Interpreter

Afrikaans descends from the Dutch of the seventeenth-century Cape, and a Dutch speaker can read an Afrikaans newspaper with some effort. That is why an agency short of Afrikaans linguists sends a Dutch one. Spoken Afrikaans is a different matter: the grammar is simplified in ways Dutch is not, the vocabulary has absorbed Malay, Portuguese, English and African-language words, and everyday expressions that look familiar mean something else.

Under cross-examination or in a consent conversation those false friends cause real harm. We assign Afrikaans interpreters for Afrikaans and keep Dutch as a separate service.

Afrikaans Medical Interpreter for Older Patients

Hospitals and clinics that receive federal funds must provide language assistance free of charge under 45 CFR 92.201, and they may not rely on an adult relative to interpret outside an emergency. The patient who needs Afrikaans is usually older: a parent who followed an adult child to Texas or Florida, or a grandparent in a resettled household. The family's instinct is for a son or daughter to translate. For a diagnosis, a capacity assessment or a hospice conversation, that puts the relative in an impossible position.

We place an interpreter in person for those appointments where one is within reach, and connect by video for follow-ups. More on medical interpreting.

Afrikaans Interpreter for USCIS Interviews

Refugees apply to adjust status after a year in the country, and relatives follow through family petitions; either can lead to an interview. The applicant brings the interpreter, the interpreter signs Form G-1256, and every question and answer passes through that person. A bilingual family member is a poor choice because the officer needs to be sure the answers are the applicant's own. We send an independent Afrikaans interpreter who renders each answer as given and asks for a repeat rather than guessing. See USCIS interview interpreting.

Afrikaans Interpreter Rates and Regional Matching

Cape Afrikaans, including the Kaaps heard in Cape Town, sounds very different from the Afrikaans of the Free State or the Northern Cape, and Namibian speakers bring their own vocabulary. Tell us where the speaker grew up. On-site interpreting typically falls in a US market range of $45 to $95 an hour with a two-hour minimum, as a guide; the pricing page has the detail and the written quote is the price. Put the region, the setting and the date into the quote form, or ring +1 (833) 282 8883.

Questions we get asked