The new restaurant trend in Puerto Rico, is that restaurants
want to have bilingual menus (which is not abad thing considering Puerto Rico is a very popular touristic destination). So what they do is that they have the name of the
specialty in Spanish and right next to it a translation in “English” Why do I write English inside quotation marks? Because sometimes the word chosen to represent the concept
in the menu is not exactly the right word given the culinary context of the
word. People underestimate the value of a good translation. To be respected as
a bilingual destination where tourists can have
a good time in their own language is not limited to just be able to translate
a few words and be able to say “Yes” “No” and “Give a moment” until you can
find someone who is actually fluent in the language. It is also about choosing
the right vocabulary according to the represented context. A very good example
is a well known restaurant that has enjoyed a well reputed name for years in
the northwest area of Puerto Rico, if you order from their menu; you can always
enjoy the “Parmesan Chicken Chest” as your main course, it’s bound to be
delicious even though its choice in vocabulary is disastrous.
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