The Hour

Glasgow born Jonathan Downie has become the world’s first translator of…Glaswegian!

For those of us accustomed to the shortened dialect renowned within the west coast of Scotland, this may well come as a surprise and quite frankly a bit of an insult.

But it seems the demand is high for a translator of Glasgow’s favourite colloquialisms, with a London based company recently advertising the post.

With over 500 applicants, 26-year-old Jonathan from Wishaw in Lanarkshire was delighted to take on the challenge of deciphering the city’s various twangs…and to get paid for doing it!

The MSc graduate in Translation and Conference Interpreting from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh said: “There is a genuine need for Glaswegian interpreters.

“For me, interpreting is all about enabling communication and there is a real dialect and speed difference in Glasgow.”

Jonathan explains the types of people he will be interpreting for: “It is mostly going to be helping businessmen coming to Glasgow for a visit to understand the people they are coming to visit.

“It could be anyone from down south to someone who’s second language is English.”

WATCH: the video to find out how well Jonathan got on when Michelle McManus and Julyan Sinclair tested his Glaswegian knowledge.