Are you terrified by the thought of having to count to 10 in a foreign language, much less trying to explain to someone from a different culture what you do and don't eat as a vegan?
Or maybe you're fluent in six different languages, but it just so happens that Chinese isn't one of them, and your boss has just sent you to Guangzhou to be wined and dined by potential clients at a series of never-ending Chinese banquets. You've been told to expect shark fin soup.
Don't worry, help is on the way! I've put together a list of all the tools out there that will allow you to order a vegan meal with confidence, even if the waiter doesn't understand a word you're saying.
These are not just standard phrase books or translation apps; they are tailor-made for vegan travellers and run the gamut from state-of-the-art apps to DIY arts and craft projects that you cut out and fold along the dotted line. Whether you're heading to Taipei or Turkmenistan, there's sure to be one that's right for you.
UPDATE December 2020:
I've started a new series of article on this blog where I'll be sharing useful survival words and phrases in various languages, including all the phrases you'll need to order vegan food. The first in the series is this article on basic words and phrases in Mandarin Chinese, with more languages to follow, so stay tuned!
Table of Contents
The Vegan Passport
Price: £4.95 in paperback ($1.99 in the US Apple Store for the mobile app)
Format: Pocket-sized paperback book AND Apple, Windows or Android app.
The Good: Many languages, extensive explanation, useful illustrations
The Bad: Not much to complain about here!
Of all the tools out there, this multilingual booklet published by the Vegan Society in the UK has been around the longest and is thus well tried and tested. It has also been expanded and improved on with each new addition.
The explanation of veganism is extensive and covers not only what vegans don't eat, but also plenty of examples of what we do eat.
The latest edition, released in July 2016, includes a whopping 79 languages, which together are spoken by 96% of the world's population.
And if you do run into someone who doesn't read any of those languages, the Vegan Passport has still got you covered. The last two pages use pictures to explain veganism at a glance; on the left side is a smiling face surrounded by fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, etc., and on the right side is a frowning face surrounded by animal products.
This is sometimes the most effective way to get your meaning across even with someone who does speak your language.
For years, the Vegan Passport was only available in hard copy format. But with the release of the fifth edition in 2016, the Vegan Society has also launched a mobile version for your smartphone!
You can search either by language or by country. This is handy in multilingual countries, like Switzerland or Belgium, as you can easily provide someone with explanations in multiple languages if you're not sure which language they're most comfortable with.
Download it from the Apple App Store at the link below, or at Google Play.
Select Wisely
Price: $14.00
Format: Laminated credit-card-sized card
The Good: Will survive the wear and tear of travel better than paper
The Bad: Absurdly overpriced, covers only one language per card.
Select Wisely is a company that specializes in food allergy travel translation cards. They have also expanded to cover other types of allergies and health conditions as well as the vegetarian/vegan market. The card, while basic, does a pretty good job of getting the idea across, but at a ridiculous price. A separate card must be ordered for each language, at a cost of 14 bucks per card. Select wisely by not choosing this company.
Making Sense
Price: Free
Format: Downloadable PDF or GIF file
The Good: Useful for vegetarians and vegans travelling together
The Bad: Could be confusing/misleading for restaurant staff
This free phrase card was created by the authors of Making Sense - a language and translation blog - and covers nine of the world's most commonly-spoken languages. In each language, the card provides just two, effective sentences – one explaining what vegetarians don't eat and another explaining what vegans don't eat.
This is particularly useful for vegans and vegetarians travelling together, though if you only want to order vegan food it might get confusing for the restaurant staff to see both explanations right next to each other.
The translations have all been done by professional translators, and I can confirm that the ones in languages I have a good knowledge of did seem to be clear and accurate. You can either print out the card as a PDF file or save it as an image to your smartphone (just click on the image above to access the download links). And it's free, so the price is hard to beat.
V-Cards
Price: Free
Format: Printable paper cards, or iPhone app (iOS 7.0 or later)
The Good: Comes in 105 languages, and it's free
The Bad: Only about 30 have been checked by a native speaker; the rest are machine translations
V-Cards are available either in an old-school, DIY version that you print, cut out and fold into cards yourself, or as an app for your iPhone (the Android version is currently in development). They cover no fewer than 105 languages, including some pretty obscure ones.
While some languages have been translated by native speakers, and others have at least been checked and amended by native speakers, about two-thirds of them are machine translations.
Meaning, you could achieve the same thing by writing your own explanation of what you do and don't eat and running it through Google Translate.
I would be very wary of using the cards in a language that hasn't been vetted by a native speaker, as this might only lead to confusion.
What worries me the most is that the cards include a couple of extremely generic words that generally do NOT refer to animal products, like “sauce” and “oil”! Granted, these are written under headings like "No Meat" and "No Animal Products", but I'm afraid they are likely to be misinterpreted by someone unfamiliar with veganism.
One advantage of the paper format, though, is that you can hand the card over to your server and let them take it back to the kitchen to show the chef. Something you probably wouldn't want to do if it meant handing over your smartphone. You can grab your printable cards here, or download the app from the iTunes App Store:
We have the Vegan Passport & it has served us well. We expect to continue to use it (how could it become obsolete?).
Hi Cara,
I’m glad to hear that you’re finding the Vegan Passport useful! And you’re right, while I’m sure some people will prefer to use apps and other technology, there will always be a place for the passport.
This is such a great list of resources, thanks Wendy! I haven’t tried any of these yet but have my fingers crossed that Veganagogo are going to release an Android version soon.
I’m glad you find it helpful Natalie! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you about the Android version.
Ever heard of Kannada? I sure have, and I’m not even Indian. This language has some 40 million native speakers – more than the population of countries such as Poland, Belgium, Greece or the Netherlands.
Thanks for the geography lesson Margaret! I’ve spent about six months in total travelling around India, but I wasn’t familiar with Kannada. What part of the country is it spoken in?
Thank you for that list! I find it extremely useful! I got some cards at the (other) Vegan Passport, including in my own language…. The other day I said to a waiter I was a vegan, and that I didn’t eat meat, eggs or milk, so she offered me a chicken pie…
Hi Leticia,
I’m so glad you found it useful, and even in your own language! It’s true that the language barrier is not always the real problem. Many people just aren’t familiar with the concept of veganism, so it’s important that we explain it as clearly as possible.
The ones that seem most interesting to me would have to be The Vegan Passport, EatAway (for its ability to be more specific, as I can imagine that this can be useful for someone who tries to keep fats at bay) & Vegangogo 🙂 Which one do you like best, Wendy?
Hi Pia,
Thanks for asking! I’ve been using the Vegan Passport app recently, and if I had to choose just one tool it would probably be that one. That’s because it’s offered in so many languages, and I like the way the explanation is worded. But EatAway and Veganagogo definitely have their own benefits too! It depends on what an individual’s needs are, so it’s great that there are so many tools to choose from now.