By Seleoe Nonyane
Translingo Consulting provides language-based solutions, ranging from translation, interpretation, proofreading, French tutoring, document review and editing, transcribing and subtitling.
Founded by Lintle Victoria Lerotholi, the company was first registered in August 2023, but was fully functional with a social media presence this month.
The company’s mission is to bridge linguistic and cultural gaps to enable effective communication across diverse cultures by tailoring language services to meet the specific needs of clients.
It also seeks to provide accurate and culturally adapted translations of written content as well as spoken language interpretation where real-time communication is essential; and to ensure the highest quality of language services through rigorous quality assurance processes, including proofreading and editing.
As the founder of the company, Lerotholi said she prides herself in having spent years living in other countries.
Language for her is not just something she learned in a classroom.
She said she had experienced foreign, especially Francophone cultures, enough to be familiar with cultural contexts and linguistic nuances, which allows her to be extremely culturally sensitive in her communication.
In an interview with theReporter this week, Lerotholi noted that she saw a gap and decided to go for it.
She indicated that if her research serves her right, there is only one language service-providing company (French-owned) in Lesotho with the rest being schools.
“So, I saw an opportunity to chip in and offer competition with the monopoly in a way that would benefit Lesotho, by providing jobs, offering services at prices that have the Mosotho client in mind instead of focusing on international rates,” she explained.
Lerotholi pointed out that Lesotho is a member of various international organisations like the United Nations and its different agencies, hence their services facilitate diplomatic communication thus fostering stronger political ties.
This also helps promote social inclusivity and understanding among diverse groups.
“In our case, we have foreign investors, foreign doctors, refugees and many more.
“Language services will contribute to the country’s economic growth by enabling communication with international markets, thus attracting foreign investments.
“It can also attract international tourists thereby boosting the country’s economy. Nelson Mandela once said, ‘if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head, if you talk in his language it goes to his heart’,” she said.
Moreover, she added, translation services also assist in ensuring fair representation and understanding of legal documents.
With two years of experience under her belt, Lerotholi has been engaged in some of the most notable projects including document translation for the embassy of Algeria in Botswana while she was a student at the University of Botswana.
She revealed that she was also part of the panel of translators translating the novel “Que quelqu’un le fasse” by Lippe de Thoisy in collaboration with Alliance Française de Maseru and Alliance Française de Gaborone.
She also translated the biographies for some comic artists for the Kubini Exhibition 2023 in collaboration with various Alliance Française branches in Southern Africa.
Additionally, Lerotholi is currently working with a panel of other professionals to develop a curriculum to launch a bachelor’s degree programme of French at the Lesotho College of Education.
She said although the company only recently started operating her biggest achievement so far is having the chance to create job opportunities for Basotho.
Her vision is to grow to become the leading language service provider in the country and she understands that she cannot reach such a scale of influence working on her own.
“So, I have already opened up the opportunity for fellow language professionals to join our pool of talent and the response is already tremendous,” she noted.
The company also expand horizons for people to learn international languages, therefore, in the upcoming year she intends to start tutoring programmes that will enhance learning opportunities for different individuals.
Translingo Consulting has faced some challenges such as the lack of information regarding LSPs (language service providers) in the country. It is not easy to start a company with such little information, Lerotholi bemoaned.
