How to Create a Foreign-Language Menu — A Guide to Three Approaches
With more international customers visiting Korean stores, many owners are wondering how to offer menus in foreign languages. There are three main approaches, each with its own trade-offs.
The first is professional translation services. Hiring a translation agency guarantees human-reviewed quality, but involves per-language translation fees, design and printing costs, and production time. The biggest burden is maintenance: every menu change or price update means a new order and a new print run. For stores with seasonal menus, these costs repeat indefinitely.
The second is free machine translation tools. Translating menu items yourself with a translation app costs nothing, but food names are where general-purpose translators fail most often. Unique dish names and store-specific expressions lack context for the machine, often producing translations that confuse customers more than they help.
The third is AI image translation, which uses the menu you already have. Photograph your existing Korean menu with a smartphone, and the translation appears directly over the original image. SeoHee, the in-store AI interpretation service, supports this through its image translation feature. There are no production costs or lead time: one photo of your menu converts into 13 languages. A store-specific glossary ensures your unique dish names are translated correctly, and when the menu changes, you simply take a new photo. International customers scan the QR code at your store to view the menu in their own language.
Which approach is right for you? If your menu rarely changes and you can invest in translation quality, professional services are a solid choice. But if your menu changes often, you need multiple languages at once, or you want to start right away, AI image translation wins on both cost and time.
SeoHee provides menu image translation and real-time conversation interpretation in 13 languages. If you are interested in adopting in-store interpretation, request a free consultation on our contact page.
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