Nowadays, our world becomes more and more open with more and more international business introduced. More and more foreign friends flood into China, travel, do business, study, live etc.

Since they have to live in our environment for a while or long, there is one awkward fact that they do not know Chinese, not to mention Chinese dish menu.

Therefore, they have to randomly order when they enter a restaurant. Though some restaurants do have their own English menu, they are rarely understandable enough for foreign friends. In this article, let us learn how to translate Chinese dish menu into English ones.

First of all, when we translate Chinese dish menu into English, we have to start to understand what it is made of/from and how it is named. Chinese dish name usually is composed of name of raw materials, cooking method, smell of the dish, container of the dish, the founder of the dish, the cradle of the dish etc.

The naming method which reflects the dish content and characteristic often refers as realistic naming method. There is another naming method which reflects the profound meaning of the dish, that is implication naming method.

We should apply the realistic naming method when translate Chinese dish menu into English due to the fact that there are considerable difference between Chinese and English.

It is recommended that we shall try every possible means to translate the raw material, cooking method, the smell of the dish when translate Chinese dish menu, so that our foreign friends may get clear at a glance. In case of translate Chinese dish menu into English counterparts, here are some method for doing so.

To be continued

Read Also: Translation Method on Chinese Dish Menu II

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