Welcome to Tok Pasifika, the Pacific Community's (SPC) Pacific language resource hub connecting you with select Pacific language service providers, who have expressed an interest in working with SPC and its partners to deliver information and knowledge products in local languages and better serve Pacific communities. This network also showcases inspiring recommendations and testimonials from cultural custodians and explores Pacific languages through free-to-use, downloadable language factsheets featuring audio files of useful phrases.
Tok Pasifika offers one pathway to accessing professional language services while celebrating the rich linguistic heritage of the Pacific region. Services include translation, interpretation, transcription and voiceovers in more than 20 languages, such as Vosa Vakaviti (Fijian), Tahitian and Marshallese.
Please check the register link below to find your desired language combination. You can filter by source language (original language) and target language (the language you would like to translate/interpret your text into). Note that not all language combinations are available.
Please note: While the register is provided here on SPC website, potential clients of any of these services must connect directly with the providers listed.
Videos – Meet our local voices
Language is the foundation of our identities. Language links us to our communities, to our land, to our roots. It connects us to the environment, to the spirits of the area, and identifies us as belonging to the place where we share the same language.
Language is essential because it is the primary channel for understanding culture, whether through songs, stories or poems. It weaves meaning into everything we do.
Through language, we need to enable our children—our future generations—to feel that they are part of the community and recognise themselves in our shared values. They need to know where they come from, who their people are and what their traditions are, before they go out and explore the world.
"To our sisters and brothers, love your language, speak your mother tongue and pass it down to the next generations." – Vitolia, Samoa
Meet local voices as they share their cultures, traditions and stories. They invite you to discover and learn more about the region’s languages through inspirational short videos.
Testimonies – Our languages, our cultures and our resilience
Across the Pacific, language is more than just communication; it is our identity, heritage, and resilience. In a compelling series of testimonies, from Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru and the Marshall Islands, community leaders and cultural custodians share deep personal reflections on how their native languages shape their lives, connect them to ancestors and empower them to protect their cultural identity. These stories provide an intimate insight into the vital role that language plays in maintaining community ties, transmitting intergenerational memories and enriching the living diversity of the Pacific Island region.
Language Factsheets – Pacific languages at a glance
As part of the Tok Pasifika project, we offer language information for Pacific Island countries and territories through the factsheet series below.
The Tok Pasifika factsheets include useful information on language focal points in the countries. Each factsheet is also an invitation to discover a living Pacific language through everyday words and expressions (greetings, farewells, thanks).
NB: To listen to the audio included in our factsheets, please download the PDF and open it on your desktop, as the audio player does not work in browser view.
Our partners
This project was created through the Funding with Intent initiative launched within the Pacific Community (SPC) with the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and was also supported by the French Pacific Fund.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
