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Karen Interpreters

Professional Karen interpreting, virtual or in person, for the settings where getting it wrong has consequences — asylum interviews, hearings, attorney meetings, medical appointments and school meetings.

Book S'gaw or Pwo Karen, not Burmese, and ask which one

Can a Burmese interpreter cover a Karen speaker? Usually not, and it can do harm: Karen is a separate group of languages, and Arizona's refugee health program warns that Karen refugees who know Burmese may prefer not to speak it, because it is the language of the military regime that drove them out. Ask the client which language is acceptable; see also our Burmese page.

"Karen" is itself several languages. The Karen Organization of Minnesota names three main ones — S'gaw (pronounced "Skaw"), Western Pwo and Eastern Pwo — and Minnesota's health department adds Bwe and others, each with its own writing system. S'gaw is the common language: many Pwo speakers also speak S'gaw, but S'gaw speakers do not necessarily speak Pwo. So a S'gaw interpreter may serve a Pwo client who is comfortable in S'gaw, never the reverse. Karenni (Kayah) and Pa-O are listed as separate languages again; we confirm whether we can staff them before you book.

Minnesota has the largest Karen community, and most of it came from the Thai border camps

Nearly 185,000 refugees from Burma were resettled in the US between 2007 and 2023, mostly from Thailand and Malaysia. Minnesota's health department estimates more than 20,000 Karen in the state, concentrated in Ramsey County (St. Paul) with smaller communities in Freeborn, Lyon, Nobles, Kandiyohi and Mower counties; families typically spent 8 to 12 years in camps before resettlement. The Census Bureau's 2009–2013 count, taken early in that wave, found 30,185 Karen speakers, of whom 26,440 — nearly nine in ten — spoke English less than "very well", the largest numbers in New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Nebraska.

Literacy in Karen among Minnesota's Karen is estimated at 30–40%, and most prefer spoken and visual communication, so documents are read aloud. Modern medical and technical terms are recent coinages that vary from one translator to the next, which means an interpreter will often explain a term rather than use one, and written materials should be requested in S'gaw. A University of Minnesota focus-group study held separate S'gaw and Eastern Pwo groups and found that poor or improper interpretation had added to the obstacles Karen patients faced.

Saw and Naw are titles, not names

Karen people traditionally have no surnames, so married couples and full siblings routinely have different "last names" on US forms. What often lands in the first-name field is an honorific: S'gaw Karen men use Saw and women Naw; Pwo women use Nan or Nant, and West Pwo men Mahn or Sa. "Naw Htoo" and "Htoo" can be the same woman. The honorific is also a clue for the booking: a Mahn or a Nant on the file suggests a Pwo speaker.

The Karen script was created around 1830 by an American Baptist missionary from the Burmese alphabet, and romanization of names is inconsistent. Many Karen object to being called Burmese, and some do not accept the name Myanmar; the interpreter should render the country as the client names it. Arizona's profile also notes that Karen often say "no" out of modesty, even to help they need — worth knowing when an offer of services is declined.

Karen is a limited-availability language

There are comparatively few qualified Karen interpreters working in the United States, and the ones there are get booked. That is why Karen carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate, and why lead time matters more here than with a common language: a week is comfortable, two days is a gamble.

We would rather tell you that before you book a hearing date than after. If your date is fixed and close, say so when you enquire and we will tell you honestly whether we can staff it rather than accepting and hoping.

The standard-availability languages are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Italian, German, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Somali and Nepali. Every other language we offer carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate. If a language is not on that list it is not because we cannot do it — it is because the pool of qualified interpreters in the United States is small enough that we will not promise a date without checking.

By video, by phone or in person

Virtual interpreting runs on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or over the telephone. It is quicker to arrange, costs less and carries no travel charge, and it suits appointments, calls and most meetings.

In person is what venues with their own rules tend to expect, and the right choice when documents are being signed or several people are speaking at once. Tell us the platform, or the city and the venue, when you send the request.

Where interpretation is used

The settings differ in what they demand of the interpreter, which is worth saying because they are frequently priced as though they were the same work:

• Asylum and immigration interviews. USCIS asylum interviews require the applicant to bring an interpreter, and the interview can be rescheduled if the interpreter does not appear or is not competent — which makes this the setting where getting it right matters most.
• Attorney–client meetings and declarations. Preparing testimony, taking a statement, going through documents.
• Depositions and hearings. Where the record is being made and accuracy is examined afterwards.
• Medical appointments. Note that hospitals receiving federal funding generally must provide language assistance themselves, so ask before you hire.
• School meetings. IEP meetings and parent conferences — districts also have their own obligations here.
• Business meetings and signings, such as real estate closings.

Each setting has its own page — who has to provide the interpreter, what the meeting asks of one and what it costs: see interpreters by setting.

What it costs

Rates are per interpreter, per hour, and billed from the scheduled start time rather than from when everyone actually arrives.

• Virtual — $80 per hour, one-hour minimum. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or telephone.
• In person — $110 per hour, two-hour minimum.
• Limited-availability languages — add 25–30%. Which languages those are is listed below rather than left vague.
• Travel for in-person work — $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location.

How the travel charge works out

Travel is charged at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, which means you can work it out rather than wait for a quote: a 20-mile round trip is $14, a 60-mile round trip is $42, a 150-mile round trip is $105. There is no separate call-out fee on top.

We will not pretend to know in advance where the interpreter will be coming from — that depends on the language, the date and the venue. What we do is confirm the interpreter and the exact travel figure before you book, so it is never a surprise on the invoice. Virtual assignments carry no travel charge at all, which is one reason most of what we do is virtual.

How booking an interpreter works

• You send the request with the form below: the language, the setting, the format, the date and how long it should last.
• We confirm before you commit: the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one. We reply the same business day, and no payment is taken at this stage.
• You confirm, and the interpreter is booked for your date.

What we will tell you before you book

Two things, both of which occasionally cost us the booking. Whether the venue supplies its own interpreter. Immigration court provides one. Hospitals receiving federal funding generally must provide language assistance. School districts have obligations of their own. If yours does, you should not be paying us — ask them first.

And whether we can actually staff your date. For a limited-availability language on short notice the honest answer is sometimes no, and we would rather say it than accept a booking we cannot fill. Interpretation is not translation: see certified translation at $24.95 per page if what you need is a document rendered in writing.

What to have ready

The more of this comes in the first message, the fewer exchanges before you have a price:

• The language, the date, the start time and how long it should run.
• Virtual or in person: the platform, or the city and the venue.
• The setting and the subject matter.
• How many people need interpreting for.
• Any credential the venue requires of the interpreter.

Request an interpreter

Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will come back with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one — before you commit to anything.

Sources

The facts on this page about the language and its speakers in the United States were checked against these sources on October 28, 2026.

• Minnesota Department of Health — Karen Culture and Foods (August 20, 2025)
• Karen Organization of Minnesota — Language & Customs
• Karen News — Karen Ethnic Affair Minister in Mon State pushes for Karen identity in names (June 5, 2020)
• Arizona Department of Health Services, Office of the Refugee Health Coordinator — Community Profile: Karen
• Minnesota Department of Health, Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health — Burmese refugee health profile
• U.S. Census Bureau — Detailed Languages Spoken at Home, 2009–2013 American Community Survey (nation and state tables)
• Power & Pratt — Karen refugees from Burma: focus group analysis, International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care (2012)

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