Daily Busan
Need to translate a restaurant menu? There’s an app for that
To ease the language barrier at local eateries, Busan City has launched a new platform called “Busan Allang,” which offers an AI-powered menu translation service. This platform aims to help international tourists overcome communication hurdles and navigate local dining spots more easily.
Busan Allang is a major outcome of the city’s initiative to create multilingual digital menus, which has been the most comprehensive effort of its kind in Korea. With this dedicated platform, Busan becomes the first city to offer such a service, leading the way in building a more accessible and tourist-friendly dining environment.
The name Busan Allang achieves the city’s goal of inviting visitors to enjoy the authentic taste of Busan in all languages. Playfully, the name also brings to mind a friendly Korean phrase that sounds like “Want to come to Busan?”, adding a warm and welcoming twist.
The platform’s standout feature is its easy-to-use menu translation system. Users simply upload a photo of their menu, and the AI will automatically recognize the text and translate it into multiple languages. Professional translators review the result to ensure accuracy, and the final version is shared via QR code.
The service supports seven languages: English, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Russian.
Users can also design visual menus through the platform. Besides translating existing menus, they can create new Korean menus from scratch in digital format. Though this process takes longer initially, it allows flexible updates, photo additions and detailed explanations of each dish.
The translated menus can be easily shared with customers via a unique QR code assigned to each eatery, improving accessibility and the overall dining experience. For tourists, this means less stress when ordering food; for restaurant owners, Busan Allang offers a better way to welcome global visitors.
Beyond translation, Busan Allang includes many practical features, such as a multilingual Korean food dictionary, promotional videos for local dishes and essential English phrases for customer service.
◎ Website: menu.busan.go.kr/index.nm
<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>
ease: 완화시키다 barrier: 장벽 launch: 출시하다 outcome: 결과 authentic: 진실한 standout: 눈에 띄는 automatically: 자동적으로 recognize: 인식하다 flexible: 유연한 accessibility: 접근성
Editor: Song Soomi
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