Prism Linguistics provides certified English translation of the French and Arabic records that Tama speakers from eastern Chad and Darfur hold, and Tama interpreters for asylum interviews, court hearings and medical appointments in East Los Angeles and across the United States.
Certified Tama to English translation at Prism starts from what the family actually holds. A qualified Tama translator works through the French certificate, the Arabic record, the UNHCR card or the sworn statement in Tama, and each is returned with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
Often there is no certificate at all. Tama is spoken in Dar Tama around Guéréda in Chad's Wadi Fira region and across the border in West and South Darfur. It is not a language of administration on either side. In Chad the paperwork is in French: birth registration stands at about 28 percent according to UNICEF, civil status centres exist only in communes, and a birth that was never declared can be recorded only through a jugement supplétif from the tribunal of the place of birth, which the government has made free. In Sudan the Civil Registry issues its certificates in Arabic. Many Tama families instead hold UNHCR registration papers from the refugee camps of eastern Chad.
We translate what exists: the French or Arabic certificate, the supplementary judgment, the UNHCR card. Where nothing exists we translate the sworn statement that stands in for it, and spell names to match the travel document.
Every certified Tama translation is a complete, word-for-word rendering with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy, prepared to meet USCIS requirements. It is done from a clear scan, so a client in East Los Angeles gets the same translator, the same price and the same turnaround as one anywhere else in the country. See certified Tama translation for the document service in full.
Prism Linguistics provides qualified Tama translators in East Los Angeles and professional Tama interpreters for the asylum offices, courts, hospitals and resettlement agencies that work with families from Dar Tama and Darfur. Our Tama translation services cover the French and Arabic records, UNHCR papers and sworn statements in a Chadian or Sudanese file, each delivered as a certified translation.
East Los Angeles is not an incorporated city. It is an unincorporated area that depends on Los Angeles County for local services, so it has no city council and no municipal court. Cases are heard in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, with the East Los Angeles Courthouse serving the community and downtown courthouses taking felonies and major civil litigation. Its schools are split between the Los Angeles Unified School District and Montebello Unified.
In the 2020 census 95 percent of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, the highest share of any large city or census designated place outside Puerto Rico. Spanish is only part of the picture. Los Angeles County holds at least twenty-four distinct Indigenous migrant communities, and interpreters here work in Zapotec, Mixteco, Mixe, Triqui, Nahuatl, K'iche', Mam and Garifuna. Immigration courts in Los Angeles have struggled to find them. Our only office is in New York; we assign a linguist nearby for in-person work.
Our Tama interpreters in East Los Angeles are experienced, professional linguists who work in asylum offices, immigration courts, hospitals and law firms, and who confirm that the speaker is Tama rather than Mararit or Miisiirii before an assignment is accepted.
Arabic is a second language here, not a substitute. Chadian Arabic is the lingua franca of about 60 percent of Chad's population and most Tama men trade in it, so an Arabic interpreter can look adequate at intake. It is not adequate for a woman or an elder describing what happened in a Dar Tama village, and asylum credibility turns on that account. The neighbouring Taman languages, Mararit and Miisiirii, are separate languages rather than Tama dialects, so we confirm the speaker's home area before assigning. No state runs a court certification exam in Tama, so courts use a qualified Tama interpreter, usually by phone or video; this is the kind of rare language courts come to us for. Federally funded hospitals must provide one at no cost. At an asylum interview the interpreter renders each answer as given.
For an in-person assignment in East Los Angeles we assign a Tama interpreter based in or near the city. Telephone and video interpreting can usually be arranged the same day. We serve courts, attorneys, hospitals, USCIS applicants and private individuals; we are a private agency, not a court-appointed vendor, and we say so up front.
Tama is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by around 80,000 people in eastern Chad and western Sudan (Darfur). The Tama people have been heavily impacted by the Darfur conflict and broader Sahel instability. The US Tama-speaking community is small, concentrated in areas that received Sudanese-Darfuri refugee resettlement. Our Tama translation work is rare and typically USCIS asylum-related.
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Tama translators and Tama interpreters from our nationwide network cover East Los Angeles and the surrounding area, so a certified Tama translation of a supplementary judgment or a Tama interpreter for a hearing is arranged the same way in every city listed below.
Our only office is in New York. For in-person work in East Los Angeles we assign a Tama translator who is based in or near the city, and the same Tama linguists cover the surrounding area:
Whatever record you do hold: a supplementary judgment from a Chadian tribunal, a UNHCR registration card, a school or medical record, or a sworn statement from a relative. Each is translated in full from French or Arabic with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy, and names are spelled to match your travel document.
A Tama interpreter, usually by phone or video, because in-person Tama interpreters are scarce in the United States. An Arabic interpreter is a fallback only where the speaker chooses it. No state certifies court interpreters in Tama; we are a private agency, not a court-appointed vendor.
No. Our only office is in New York. Tama translation is done remotely from a scan, so location makes no difference to the document work. For in-person interpreting in East Los Angeles we assign a Tama interpreter who is based in or near the city, and phone or video interpreting is available anywhere in the United States.
We are committed to excellence, at the same time we ensure to meet regulatory and customer’s requirements.
Our team consists entirely of native Tama linguists vetted for subject-matter expertise. They provide unmatched precision, translating exclusively into their native tongue to ensure cultural and linguistic accuracy.
We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Our company takes pride in offering excellent customer service to all our clients.