Translation Station

Heath and Nate have been here since mid-August, and as mentioned before, they order only what they know at the local restaurants.  In my attempt for them to expand their horizons, my new hobby is translating restaurant menus!  It's really helped me remember certain words since many of the dishes have some of the same ingredients.  Granted I can't pronounce any words for the life of me, but it's made it easier for us to eat at restaurants when we can simply point at what we want on the menu.

It's a six-step process: 

1. Take pictures of every page of the menu
2. Download the photos to the laptop
3. Pull up my e-mail account on the laptop
4. Use the iTranslate app on my phone to enter menu items
5. Type it on an email to send to myself
6. Copy and paste the email with the translated menu onto "Notes" on my phone for storage

The tedious part is finding the letters on the "Russian" keyboard that Heath added on my phone.  I've translated three menus already, so I'm quickly remembering where the letters are.  Here are some examples:

The iTranslate phone app.

I know it sounds pretty simple, but I'm glad I've made it a little easier for us to show waitresses what we want to eat while we are out.  Nothing gets me more annoyed than having to pay for something I did not order, or ask for.  I got the idea when I saw my first take-home menu at this burger place downtown.  They offer free wifi so I knew we would be going there often.  If you really know me, you know I am the biggest modifier when I go out to eat -- hey... what baby wants, baby gets. 

Now you know how we are getting more familiar with the Russian language, or well, at least I am.  I usually ask Heath and Nate what they want before we go to a restaurant where I've translated the menu.  With their modifications, I type it out on my phone so I can simply show the waitress.  I finally got my chicken burrito today!  Here is what our order looked like.  Heath didn't want any ketchup or mayonnaise (their staple sauces here); Nate didn't want any ketchup, mayonnaise, tomatoes or onions; and I didn't want any ketchup.  Can you make out what words mean what?

Until next time,