Why menu translation is important

 

More and more people are starting overseas travel as the duty of self-isolation for overseas travelers is gone. In the case of tourists visiting Korea, the travel industry is saying that it is clear that the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters exempted the 7-day quarantine for overseas arrivals from March 21, and it is clear that the number of tourists has increased. Itaewon and Myeongdong are the Seoul commercial districts that have been hit the hardest by the corona virus, but most cafes and restaurants, including cosmetics stores, have been closed. Fortunately, self-quarantine will disappear from this month, and you can see many business owners who are expecting an increase in tourists visiting Korea to reopen. The restaurant is reopening and the menu board needs to be renewed, but there have been cases where the AI ​​translator was used to confuse tourists with incorrect notation, At I’M Translation and ISiS Korea which provide a service that localizes various domestic tourism contents in multiple languages ​​for overseas tourists, today, we will look at incorrect menu labeling and considerations for translation.

 

Why menu translation is important

In any business, making a good first impression is important. And in any restaurant business, menus are usually the first thing customers interact with when choosing a restaurant. Tourists are influenced by their menus on how much they spend, what they order, and what more they want for their culinary experience. That's why menu translation in restaurants where tourists are the majority is essential. Also, when it comes to food selection and ordering, foreign tourists are generally much more likely to be dissatisfied with the food. To prevent this from happening, you need to be extra careful with your menu translations. So, what are some of the wrong menu translations?

 

[Example of translation of nonsense foreign language menu]

                            (ref: google image)

You can see the translation of pollack stew as ‘dynamic stew’, yukhoe as ‘six times’, and gomtang as animal bear thang (soup).

    (ref: google image)

You can see the translation of the grilled porridge as fried defense (Defense). This incorrect translation of the menu not only confuses foreign tourists, but it can also turn into a joke to foreign media as it is an incorrect translation, so be more careful.

 

So, what should be considered when translating a menu?

1.     Translation, food and culture must go together. Persuasive communication for tourists is key and is the main purpose of creating a menu. If you're in the restaurant business, it's only natural to translate your menu into other languages ​​so that foreign tourists can understand the dishes, specialties and drinks you offer. Translation of restaurant menus requires a broad understanding of the gastronomy and culture of the country and the public. This is because food terms that are culturally relevant are easy to mistranslate unless you are an expert on the cuisine of that country. For accurate supplementary explanations and menu translations, translations must be made by experts familiar with the culture of the country.

2.      For words that cannot be written in English, use Korean as it is. For example, gomtang is not a soup made with a bear, but a soup made by boiling beef meat and bones thickly. It is the right way to translate this gomtang literally as ‘Gom-tang’ or ‘Beef bone soup’. It is also a good way to refer to the ‘50 selections of foreign language notation methods for Korean food menu’ published jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korean Food Foundation.

 

For accurate Korean menu boards and globalization of Korean food, we have looked at examples of mistranslations and considerations when translating menus. When both foreigners visiting Korean restaurants abroad and tourists visiting Korea are unfamiliar with Korean food, I think the most important thing is the correct menu name and food description. Korean food can be firmly established in the global food culture only when it is provided with an opportunity to accurately promote Korean food and taste it properly.

How might I’M Translation and ISiS Koreaaid menu translations?

At I’M Translation and ISiS Korea, we can connect you with a professional translators and interpreters. We have over 30+ languages available on our platform and we are flexible and available regardless of the language pair, topic, and time zone. Please visit us at www.imtranslation.com and www.isiskorea.com/eng to request a free translation and interpretation quote. Thank you!