Looking for a Pashto dialect coach in Los Angeles? You’ve found the right place.
Strømmen has worked on film and television for over a decade, and Afghan languages are one of the areas where getting it wrong is most visible. We represent vetted Pashto and Dari coaches, and as both a translation agency and a dialect-coach agency we can cover a production end to end — script, recordings, on-set coaching, and a final check before anything airs.
Why authenticity matters: the Homeland graffiti
In 2015 the makers of Homeland hired graffiti artists to add Pashto and Arabic lettering to a set depicting a refugee camp, to lend it authenticity. The artists instead painted messages criticising the show, including “Homeland is racist” — and the footage aired. The BBC covered it at the time. Nobody on that production could read what had been written.
That is the exact failure our final-review step exists to prevent.
What we provide on set
Art department
Anything written on camera in Pashto or Dari gets read and approved before it is painted, printed or dressed into a scene.
Script translation
Translators who work in film, so the dialogue is accurate and also performable.
MP3 recordings
We supply recordings ahead of coaching sessions, so actors arrive already familiar with the sound of their lines rather than learning them cold.
On-set Pashto and Dari dialect coaching
Qualified Afghan coaches and translators, on set, for the length of the shoot.
Final review before air
Third-party interpreters check the finished product. It is the cheapest insurance a production can buy against a headline.
Our background with Afghan languages
In 2021 our company donated more than $40,000 in translation work to Afghans applying for refugee status. The coaches and translators we place come from that same network.
Get in touch
Call or text 323-638-9787, or contact us here. You can also see our on-set resume for past productions, or browse our tutors and coaches.
