VeganTranslations solves a simple need: to express your dietary needs as a vegan to local restaurants when you are travelling. We have 10 languages to start and need help to expand our phrase selection!
The problem I've faced by such simple translations spending multiple years living in Asia, is that "veganism" and even "dairy" are abstractions (abstractions in food take the form of supersets, subsets, intersections and exclusions), whereas the people working in restaurants, especially outside the developed world, have not been trained to think abstractly.
Depending on the establishment, employees may not have completed high school, some no formal education, and it is quite a distinction to come back after hours and see them sleeping on the floor of the restaurant or tent-stall as their home.
For many restaurant workers, asking for modifications to a meal is like blasphemy to a tradition - a ridiculous notion - you might as well be asking them to make a whole new dish! Especially when customers in these regions do not think in terms of nutrition, but in terms of traditional meals that have stayed the same for centuries - that is why restaurants in these areas still advertise meal names - Babi Guling, Nasi Goreng, Nasi Lemak! - and not slogans or principles.
Worse, is that many consider broths made with animal products, but had the meat removed, still suitable for vegans. This is because again, animal product is an abstraction, not an ingredient on their instruction set for a traditional meal their families have prepared for centuries. It takes an ability to wrestle with abstractions to consider cheese an animal product, for most, cheese is just an ingredient. And heaven forbid those that consider fish to be a vegetable.
Furthermore, why would anyone not want to eat meat or dairy? They are signs of wealth and health, if you can afford them, you should be eating them. Veganism is still a privilege for those who have the luxury of choice of their nutrition, which restaurant employees rarely have. Without this philosophical contemplation of dietary requirements (be it political, religious, or allergy), things like this arise: meals such as biryani will be cooked with paneer inside a huge pot, and served throughout the day, so when someone asks no cheese, they will consider it odd (that person must just not like paneer for a strange reason) and just pick out the paneer they can see, and job done.
As such, I came up with the below note that I share with my fellow digital nomads, which has evolved through such aforementioned tediums with increasing success.
Ultimately however, a picture/sign version may be best for in-person interactions.
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2019 version for grab (food-delivery) orders:
Vegan and gluten-free, otherwise please cancel the item.
What does vegan and gluten mean?
Gluten is an ingredient inside wheat and barley that makes some people sick, so NO gluten/wheat/barley, such as in sauces, flour, and thickeners. Gram flour is ok, as it is not wheat.
Vegan means strict-vegetarian to avoid hurting animals, so only food from plants and minerals, which means nothing from animals, so NO dairy/milk/cream/butter/yoghurt/cheese/paneer/whey, NO egg/mayo/honey, NO shrimp/fish/oyster in sauces/pastes, NO offal/entrails/tripe/blood/ghee, NO meat/flesh/beef/chicken/seafood/fish/crab/shrimp/oyster. Coconut flesh/milk/cream is ok, as coconut is a plant.
Cutlery and napkins not needed.
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2018 international version:
When running computer translations, beware of honey being translated to darling or love.
"no dairy" was removed in favour of "no milk from cow" as it translates better.
“vegan” translates to “vegetarian” in Hindi, hence why a qualifier for actual/real/strict is required. "I am a real vegan" seems to be the most accurate to cross-translate. Vegetarian would be suitable alone, however it became appropriated to mean no-red-meat.
English
I am a real vegan
I eat only plants
no animal derivatives
that means
no meat
no broth from meat
no oyster sauce
no fish sauce
no shrimp paste
no egg
no honey
no milk from animal
no cream from animal
no butter from animal
no yogurt from animal
no mayonnaise
no ghee
only plants in mock meats
coconut is ok, it is a plant
Chinese Simplified
我是一个全素食者
我只吃植物
没有动物衍生物
这意味着
没有肉
没有肉的肉汤
没有蚝油
没有鱼酱
没有虾酱
没有蛋
没有蜂蜜
没有奶
没有奶油
奶牛没有黄油
没有牛奶的酸奶
没有蛋黄酱
没有酥油
只有植物在模拟肉类
椰子是好的，它是一种植物
Hindi
मैं एक असली शाकाहारी हूँ
मैं केवल पौधों को खा रहा हूं
कोई पशु डेरिवेटिव नहीं
इसका मतलब है कि
कोई मांस नहीं
मांस से कोई शोरबा नहीं
कोई सीप सॉस नहीं
कोई मछली सॉस नहीं
कोई चिंराट पेस्ट नहीं
कोई अंडा नहीं
कोई शहद
गाय से कोई दूध नहीं
गाय से कोई क्रीम नहीं
गाय से कोई मक्खन नहीं
गाय से कोई दही नहीं
कोई मेयोनेज़ नहीं
कोई घी नहीं
नकली मांस में केवल पौधों
नारियल ठीक है, यह एक पौधा है
Malay
Saya seorang vegan
Saya hanya makan tumbuhan
tiada sebarang makanan berasal dari haiwan
maksudnya
tiada daging
tiada sup dari daging
tiada sos tiram
tiada sos ikan
tiada pes udang
tiada telur
tiada madu
tiada susu haiwan
tiada krim dari lembu
tiada mentega dari lembu
tiada yogurt dari lembu
tiada mayonis
tiada ghee (minyak sapi)
hanya tumbuhan dalam daging tiruan
kelapa itu ok, itu adalah tumbuhan
Indonesian
Saya benar-benar vegan
Saya hanya makan tumbuhan
tidak ada turunan binatang
itu berarti
tanpa daging
tidak ada kaldu dari daging
tidak ada saus tiram
tidak ada saus ikan
tidak ada pasta udang
tidak ada telur
tidak ada madu
tidak ada susu dari sapi
tidak ada krim dari sapi
tidak ada mentega dari sapi
tidak ada yogurt dari sapi
tidak ada mayones
tidak ada minyak sapi
hanya tumbuhan di daging tiruan
kelapa itu ok, itu adalah tumbuhan
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Antagonistic version for english speakers:
Are your vegetarian options vegetarian? (that is plants only — nothing from animals, no dairy, no egg, no ghee, no honey, etc — suitable for vegans — cruelty free) or are your vegetarian options actually lacto-ovo-vegetarian? (harms, enslaves, and rapes animals for their produce such as their breast milk and eggs, but doesn't kill the animals for their flesh).
During a recent trip to Thailand, a friend and I had trouble conveying our vegan dietary preferences. Veganism is not a global phenomenon, and the details of it are not always understood in every language.
We came up with the idea to provide human translations of a few crucial phrases to convey these needs in a way that locals would understand.
Our goal was to make something:
- Free
- Simple to use
- Works well on a smartphone
Current features include:
- Supports 10 languages and counting
- Audio of spoken phrases
- Search nearby (0.5 mi radius) vegan restaurants directly on Happycow
- Offline mode
We would love your feedback and/or help with translations in different languages!
Vegan Translations
Vegan Translations