Court, USCIS and medical interpreting for Tswana, also called Setswana, speakers nationwide, with certified translation of the papers that sit beside English certificates.
Botswana and South Africa both issue their certificates in English, so a Tswana file rarely needs the certificate translated at all. Prism Linguistics handles the rest: certified English translation of the affidavits, chief's letters and customary statements written in Tswana, plus Tswana interpreters for USCIS interviews, court and medical appointments across the country. Tswana and Setswana are one language under two names. Our one office is in New York, and a linguist is assigned near the case, usually by phone or video.
Last reviewed September 2, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Linguistics
The first thing to say plainly: Tswana and Setswana are the same language, Setswana being its name in the language itself and Tswana the English form, and the same linguists cover both. It is spoken on both sides of the Botswana border, most heavily in Botswana and in South Africa's North West and Gauteng provinces. Our office is in New York, and a Tswana speaker is reached wherever they have settled.
South Africa's 2022 census recorded close to five million Setswana speakers, and in Botswana the language is first for roughly four in five people, so the pool is large even though the diaspora here is modest. Those who come are often students, professionals and their families, scattered across the metros rather than gathered in one district. We treat the language as a nationwide booking and reach the interpreter by phone or video where no one is close.
English is the working language back home, which changes who needs us. Certificates are in English in both countries, and official business in Botswana runs in English, so a working-age Tswana speaker seldom needs an interpreter. The parent flown over for a green card does, and so does the witness describing a childhood lived in Setswana, where the exact words matter and a second language will not do. That is the assignment we plan around.
Tswana in a courtroom is usually testimony about events in Botswana or North West province. No state offers a certification exam in Tswana, so a court relies on a qualified interpreter, and with in-person linguists thin on the ground we generally connect by video, set up before the hearing. This is the rare language a bench turns to us for after its own roster comes up empty. We accept the work from courts and attorneys directly, and we are candid that we operate as a private agency with no appointed standing at any court. Tell us the court and the matter and we confirm what will be accepted.
Naturalization and adjustment-of-status interviews are the everyday work. The officer weighs the applicant's own answers, so a Tswana interpreter who smooths a reply or adds a detail alters what is on the record. We instruct every interpreter to render exactly and add nothing, and we do not let a bilingual relative take the chair. Where the interview is held by phone, we arrange the line ahead of time with the field office in view.
A Setswana-speaking parent at a hospital is often assumed to cope in English and left to it. A provider drawing federal funds must give that patient an interpreter free of charge, and most families never learn this is theirs by right. Video suits a consultation or a consent conversation. For a mental health assessment, a maternity visit, or an older patient weighing a serious diagnosis, we book a scheduled session so the interpreter can keep the pace under control.
The certificate itself rarely needs translating. Botswana's Department of Civil and National Registration issues birth and death certificates, marriage records and the Omang identity card in English, and South Africa's Home Affairs does the same, so USCIS reads them as printed. The Tswana translation work is the paperwork around them: a kgosi's letter confirming a home birth registered through the village, an affidavit from a relative, a customary marriage statement, and Tswana messages offered as evidence. Names are the quiet trap, because Setswana given names are whole words such as Mpho, Kagiso or Masego, and a person may carry a Tswana name at home and an English one on school records, so two papers can read as two people; we spell to the passport and note the variant. The full document service is at certified translation.
Tell us the date, the city and the setting, or send a clear scan of the document. We reply with a fixed price and, for interpreting, a named linguist. Call +1 (833) 282 8883, email info@prismlinguistics.com, or use the quote form and you will hear back within 60 minutes during business hours.
Our only office is in New York, and our Tswana interpreters work nationwide. For in-person work we assign someone based in or near the city. These are the areas where Tswana work is concentrated; the full list of 288 cities is below it.
Prism Linguistics is rated 4.6 out of 5 across 67 client reviews for its interpreting and translation work in the United States. That is the company-wide figure; we do not publish a separate rating per language because there is no honest way to measure one. If a Tswana assignment ever falls short, tell us and we put it right.