Discover Culture Through Language
Language is the key to understanding culture. Having a deep understanding of peoples’ cultures opens doors and takes you to wonderful places. The Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures, with its 14 language programs, can help bring you closer to these goals. Our language programs use effective, creative and critical strategies to make learning languages fun. Our culture classes are designed to be interactive and engaging to make your experience memorable.
[Y]ou have to taste a country’s soul to understand it and to grasp its people. And by soul I mean what grows there, what its people see and smell and touch every day, what travels through them and shapes them from the inside out. ~ Nina George, The Little Paris Bookshop (a tale about a man who owned a book barge named Literary Apothecary)
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For Prospective Students
Explore our programs, admission info, and why studying Indo-Pacific Languages matters.
For Current Students
Access forms, advising, placement test details, and program resources.
For Faculty & Staff
View the directory, internal resources, and department updates.
What's new?
Reimagining Hindi-Urdu and South Asian Language Learning
Sai Bhatawadekar, Professor of Hindi-Urdu at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, organized the free, hybrid conference “Storytelling and Technology,” held December 10–12, 2025, highlighting emerging approaches to language pedagogy through artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and digital storytelling.
UH Mānoa Ilokano Program Hosts 20th NAKEM Conference on Language Justice and Cultural Democracy
A four-day gathering brought together 168 participants from California, Hawaiʻi, Japan, and the Philippines, underscoring NAKEM's continued role as a transnational forum for critical dialogue on language, culture, and education.
IPLL, Wea U Goin? Year 2
IPLL, Wea U Goin? shines a spotlight on the dedication and hard work that our faculty, professors, and students have poured into their programs, and celebrates how we plan to continue growing together
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If you notice any incorrect or outdated information, we’d appreciate it if you let us know. Your feedback helps us ensure the website stays reliable and up to date.Please email us at ipll@hawaii.edu