The Linguist's Story - August
Every month, we get to know a bit more about one of our linguists. This month, we introduce you to Wazhma Naveed, an interpreter working in Pashto.
Tell us about the work you do for TLS.
I work as an interpreter at The Language Shop, where I provide interpreting services for clients in various settings such as medical appointments and business meetings. My role is crucial in facilitating effective communication between individuals who speak different languages.
What's been your favourite project at TLS?
My favourite project was interpreting for a social worker who was helping a refugee family navigate the complex process of resettlement in a new country. It was incredibly rewarding to be able to assist in such a meaningful and impactful way, bridging the language barrier and ensuring they received the support they needed.
What has been your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge is interpreting during crises. During these situations, emotions run high and the pressure to accurately convey information is intense. For example, I had to interpret for a family facing eviction due to a misunderstanding with their landlord. It was challenging to remain calm and focused while translating such sensitive and urgent information. However, I was able to successfully help them negotiate a resolution with their landlord and avoid being displaced from their home. It requires quick thinking and a strong ability to remain calm under stress.
Can you tell us about a time your work has made a difference to someone’s life?
One particular instance that stands out is when I assisted a non-English-speaking patient at a hospital navigate through their treatment options and understand their diagnosis. It was rewarding to see the relief on their faces when they were able to fully comprehend the information being shared with them. My work not only helped alleviate their anxiety but also empowered them to make informed decisions about their health.
Tell us something interesting about you.
I love gardening and planting flowers. My garden is a display of my creativity and love for nature, and I find it to be a therapeutic escape from the stresses of everyday life. In my garden, I grow a variety of flowers and herbs, experimenting with different colours and scents to create a peaceful and beautiful space. Gardening allows me to connect with nature and unwind after a long day, bringing me a sense of joy and fulfilment.
Do you know about Easy Read translation?
What does this mean? Accessibility covers so many different areas, but at its heart just means considering your entire audience and the various barriers they may face in communicating with you.
Easy Read is a method of taking complex information and re-working it into an accessible, easy-to-understand format. This can help learning disabled service users to live more independently and have more agency in decisions about their lives.
The basic guidelines of Easy Read are:
- Text should be broken down into short sentences
- Images should be selected to represent each sentence of text where possible
- Language should be simplified wherever possible, and any necessary complicated words or terms should be explained
- Text should be in a large font size, minimum 14pt
- Text should be presented on A4 pages where possible, as A5 or smaller are not as accessible
- Text should always be aligned on the right hand side of the page, and images should be aligned on the left-hand side of the page
- Complex or ornate fonts or formatting should be avoided
- Design elements should be kept to a minimum so as not to distract from the information.
TLS awarded Customer Service Excellence Standard certificate
We are delighted to report that we have once again been awarded Customer Service Excellence (CSE) certification.
The CSE standard is an evidence-based accreditation, with particular focus on delivery, timeliness, information, professionalism and staff attitude. The audit also scored us on how we manage customer insight, understand the user’s experience and measure service satisfaction.
Of course, the assessor did not just rely on what we said, but also interviewed some of our customers. This gave real insight to the assessors, and to us.
At TLS we ensure to continue to meet the Customer Service Excellence Standard, and we send warm thanks to all customers who provided feedback on our behalf.
Your month ahead - August '25
13-15 – Obon, Buddhist
One of Japan’s most important festivals, Obon is a time when people honour their dead. Because it is believed that, during Obon, ancestors can walk among the living, it is sometimes called Japan’s Day of the Dead. During the festival, many Japanese people will travel to their family homes, clean the graves of loved ones and leave offerings at shrines.
27 – Ganesh Chaturthi, Hindu
Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates the birth of Ganesha, the god of prosperity and wisdom. The festival lasts for ten days, beginning with the mounting of idols of Ganesha, who has the head of an elephant, on homes and other buildings. Then rituals are performed to bring life to the idols, followed by hymns. The idols are decorated with flowers and colourful pastes and given offerings. At the end of the festival, the idols are carried in processions to rivers and immersed.
The festival took on new importance during the late nineteenth century, when British colonisers banned public gatherings. An Indian nationalist leader called Bal Gangadhar Tilak harnessed the support for the previously private, family-based celebrations to unite Indians in the struggle for independence from British rule. It is now seen by many as a key moment in the movement.
August’s dates at a glance
Religious/cultural
1 – Lammas Christian
Lughnasadh, Wicca and Pagan
Fast In Honour of the Holy Mother of the Lord Jesus, Orthodox Christian
3 – Tish’a B’av, Judaism
6 – Feast of Transfiguration, Christian
Transfiguration of The Lord, Orthodox Christian
9 – The 15th of Av, Judaism
Raksha Bandhan, Hindu
10 – Feast of Saint Lawrence, Christian
13-15 – Obon, Buddhist
15 – Arba’een, Islam
Assumption of Mary, Catholic Christian
Dormition of The Theotokos, Orthodox Christian
16 – Krishna Janmashtami, Hindu
21 – Paryushana Parvarambha begins, Jain
22 – Feast of The Queenship of Mary, Catholic Christian
24 – Feast of Saint Bartholomew The Apostle, Christian
Guru Grinth Sahib Jayanti, Sikh
27 – Ganesh Chaturthi, Hindu
28 – Samvatsari, Jain
29 – Beheading of Saint John The Baptist, Christian
Awareness and Events
9 – International Day of The World’s Indigenous People
19 – World Humanitarian Day
22 – International Day Commemorating The Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
23 – International Day for The Remembrance of The Slave Trade and Its Abolition
language fact file - Finnish
Finnish is spoken as a native language in: Finland, some small parts of Sweden, Norway and Russia.
Number of native speakers: 5 million
Learn some: If you’re stuck in Finland, you might want to ask: ‘Puhutko englantia?’ Which means, ‘do you speak English?’ As with most of Scandinavia, English is widely spoken and you’ll probably be in luck!
Fast facts:
Finland consistently comes out top in the world for happiness. This may be in part because of the Finns’ embrace of an untranslatable word, sisu. This broadly means resilience in the face of adversity.
Finnish is a unique language with no roots in common with its neighbours.
There is a word in Finnish, Kalsarikänni, that translates into English as ‘drinking alone at home in your underwear’. So now you know.
Employee's Story - July
Every month, we get to know a bit more about one of our linguists. This month, for a change, we introduce you to one of the TLS team, Peta Moore.
Tell us about the work you do for TLS.
At TLS I am part of the Ops team who manage the bookings for both spoken languages and non-spoken languages. We also deal with queries over the phone and via email from customers and interpreters. I oversee a lot of the queries and investigate the more complex questions to help maintain great customer service.
What has been your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge throughout my time at TLS was during COVID: facing the unknown, going through lockdown, battling my own health anxieties whilst making sure service users still had their appointments with their interpreters. It was definitely an eye opener and made me appreciate everything in my personal life and my professional life so much more.
Can you tell us about a time your work has made a difference to someone’s life?
I see all booking types day in and day out with this job, however the bookings that pull at my humanity the most are the appointments where bad news is being broken. I have gone through that process with my mum when she was battling cancer. Having that appointment in a language you are not too familiar with can be daunting, so knowing that I have helped someone get that devastating information in a language they feel most comfortable in warms my heart.
Tell us something interesting about you.
After learning French and Spanish at school, I did my BSL level 1 through TLS just before COVID. During lockdown I tried my hand at Polish but it didn’t stick. During a difficult time with my mental health I needed an outlet to distract my brain. I’d recently discovered a Finnish rapper Käärijä whose lyrics were all in Finnish. I loved the music but wanted to understand the lyrics, so I started to learn Finnish and fell in love with it. I researched Finnish culture and travelled to Finland last year and ventured round Helsinki. Since then I have also picked Dutch back up (I spoke it vaguely as a child) and this year I threw Korean into the mix.
My band are playing in Holland later this year and I hope to visit South Korea in the next year or two! Three very different languages – but I love every second of learning them!
TLS interpreters received specialist child protection training
In partnership with Hackney Children’s Services Safeguarding and Reviewing Team, we are now facilitating specialist child protection training for interpreters working in this important area. The training, delivered by Hackney’s team, helps interpreters build a clear understanding of the policies and procedures surrounding Initial Child Protection Conferences, Review Child Protection Conferences, and Core Group meetings.
At the end of the training, participants:
- Understand the reason for Child Protection Conferences
- Better understand the processes involved, including referrals/timescales/invites/report deadlines
- To understand the importance of sensitive language and full interpreting during meetings
- Know what happens at an ICPC/RCPC
- Are provided with tips for presenting information (eg subtext-specific language/acronyms that professionals use).
dates for your diary - July
8 Jul-17 Aug, South Asian Heritage Month
This annual event honours and celebrates the impact of South Asian communities and their heritage on life in the UK. This year’s theme is Roots to Routes, looking at each person of South Asian heritage’s personal or family journey to the UK, asking everyone of this heritage to look at how this shapes their identity and seeking to find connections through this shared experience of uprooting. Find out more and see what’s happening near you: South Asian Heritage Month.
15, Saint Vladimir the Great Day, Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic
St Vladimir the Great (aka St Volodymyr) is one of the most important figures in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, because he brought Christianity to Kievan Rus in the 1st century, replacing the Slavic paganism as the state religion. This transition had a huge and lasting impact on the entire region and its identity. The day is celebrated with church services and processions.
July’s dates at a glance
Religious/Cultural
3 – Feast of the Saint Thomas the Apostle, Christian
6 – Ashura, Islam
9 – Martyrdom of the Báb, Baha’i
10 – Asalha Puja (Dharma Day), Buddhist
15 – Saint Vladimir the Great Day, Orthodox Christian
19 – Guru Har Krishan Jayanti, Sikh
22 – Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, Christian
23 – Birthday of Emperor Haile Selassie, Rastafari
25 – Saint James the Great’s Day, Christian
Awareness and Events
14 – International Non-Binary People’s Day
18 – Nelson Mandela International Day
18 Jul-17 Aug – South Asian Heritage Month
28 – World Hepatitis Day
language fact file: Nepali
Nepali is spoken as a native language in: Nepal, Bhutan, India
Number of native speakers: 19 million
Learn some: ‘Namaste’ is probably quite a familiar word for lots of people, and it is just used to mean ‘hello’. If you would like to get someone’s attention, it’s ‘maaf garnuhos’.
Fast facts:
Nepal is a very diverse country with a variety of languages and dialects. While Nepali is often a shared second language, uniting Nepalis who have different mother tongues, some argue that, with more than 50% of the population unable to speak it, Nepali should not be considered a national language.
Nepali is a tonal language, which means that a word’s pitch varies its meaning. It also has 12 vowels and 36 consonants (compared to English’s 5 vowels and 21 consonants)!
There are three distinct geographical divisions of the Nepali language: the eastern, the western and the focal. In addition to this, there is a dialect that is spoken by the upper classes, which has its own vocabulary and honorific system. This is increasingly being adopted by the educated middle class and newly wealthy.
The linguist’s story - June '25
Every month, we get to know a bit more about one of our linguists. This month we meet Rita Gurung, an interpreter working in Nepali.
Tell us about the work you do for TLS.
I am a Nepali interpreter with almost 12 years of professional interpreting experience in the UK. At TLS I do face to face, telephone and video interpreting.
What's been your favourite project at TLS?
Video interpreting has been my favourite project with TLS. TLS uses video calls for many of their NHS bookings. I find it an efficient way to work because it creates a similar face to face environment for both the clients and interpreters. In addition, it increases my availability as an interpreter so I can help many people in the community from the comfort and safety of my home.
What has been your biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge for me is not having the time to take all the bookings that are offered, I would take more on if I could!
Can you tell us about a time your work has made a difference to someone’s life?
When it comes to making a difference to someone’s life, I truly believe that I am the one on the receiving end. The sense of joy and reward I feel each time I have helped people communicate between the two different languages, Nepali and English, is immense. What seems ordinary externally is in fact so complex internally. Different spoken languages can be a barrier of communication between people. As an interpreter I get the opportunity to break that barrier each time I turn up for a job so the people in need can be helped.
Tell us something interesting about you.
I was born in Hong Kong in a Nepali household and grew up speaking Nepali since birth, while learning English in school. I remember using both my mother tongue, which is Nepali, and English since my primary school years. Growing up, not only was I a speaker of two languages but I was also my mother’s interpreter by default, because my mother did not speak English and many in our community only spoke English. Translating letters in English, accompanying her for shopping, hospital appointments, attending school meetings etc were also my “extracurricular activities” outside of school. With maturity, proper education and expertise in the field of interpreting, coupled with ongoing day to day life and work experience, I have gained so much from my vocation I cannot be thankful enough. I am grateful now that I am with TLS and I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with them.