Translate your church service into Tigrinya
ትግርኛ
Tigrinya is the primary language of Eritrea and the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, spoken by around 9 million people. Eritrean Christians — including Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical believers — make up a significant and often overlooked diaspora community in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and the US. Voco translates your live sermon into Tigrinya in real time, giving Eritrean-background members full access to English-language teaching.
Latency
~500ms
from spoken word to text
Attendee setup
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Starting from
£8/week
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The Tigrinya-speaking diaspora
Eritrean diaspora communities are concentrated in UK cities including London, Sheffield, Cardiff, and Leeds, as well as in Germany (especially Frankfurt and Stuttgart), Switzerland, Sweden, and the US (Washington DC, the Bay Area, Atlanta). Many Eritrean Christians fled their country due to religious persecution — the Eritrean government has severely restricted evangelical Christian activity since 2002. Eritrean Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical believers in diaspora cities often attend mainstream English-language churches or small Eritrean fellowships. For these communities, having the sermon available in Tigrinya is both a pastoral provision and a statement of welcome.
Bible availability in Tigrinya
The Tigrinya Bible is available through the Bible Society of Eritrea and Ethiopia. Tigrinya has a long Christian literary tradition — the Ge'ez language (the liturgical language of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church) is the ancestor of Tigrinya. Evangelical Tigrinya communities use modern Tigrinya translations.
Script and display notes
Tigrinya is written in Ge'ez script (also known as Ethiopic or Fidäl), the same script used for Amharic. It reads left to right and is fully supported in Unicode.
Using Voco for Tigrinya church translation
Eritrean believers in the UK are often spread across mainstream evangelical, charismatic, and international churches rather than concentrated in dedicated Eritrean congregations. Many experienced persecution for their faith in Eritrea and bring deep devotion to church attendance. For these believers, hearing the sermon in Tigrinya is not a convenience — it is the difference between spectating and participating.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tigrinya available in Voco?
Yes — Tigrinya is a supported language. Eritrean diaspora churches are among the communities Voco specifically aims to serve.
Does Tigrinya script display correctly?
Yes. Tigrinya uses the Ge'ez/Ethiopic script, which is fully Unicode-supported and displays correctly on all modern iOS and Android devices.
We also have Amharic-speaking Ethiopian members — can both run simultaneously?
Yes. Tigrinya and Amharic can both be active as separate translation channels in the same service. Each attendee selects their own language.
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