Food labels, or nutrition labels, are guides designed to inform the consumer of nutritional information of the product, which is usually a food item. These contain listings of vitamins, fats, cholesterol, protein and other information, which can be evaluated by the consumer for health purposes. Popular reasons for looking at food labels include losing weight, treatment of illness such as high blood pressure and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Reading nutrition labels is fairly easy, but it can be challenging in another language. Luckily, there is a way to have those food labels in your back pocket.
Step 1
Use a translation book. These often are pocket-sized guides for tourists and visitors to other nations or anyone who needs help understanding, reading and pronouncing foreign words. While these may not contain every word in the Spanish language, they offer most day-to-day vocabulary and have words placed in alphabetical order for easy navigation.
Step 2
Learn keywords often seen on English nutrition labels. Nutrition labels will have basically the same nutrition facts under headings such as serving size, calories, vitamins, protein and carbohydrates. Learning these keywords will familiarize the reader with the basic contents of a nutrition label, making a Spanish reading label easier to decode since English and Spanish nutrition labels have the same basic configuration. Look thee words up in the Spanish translation book and practice memorizing them.
Step 3
Have the translation book handy when attempting to read a Spanish nutrition label. A word can quickly be found using the guides alphabetical order. A Spanish-to-English guide will have the English word first and the Spanish counterpart next to it, with correct spelling and punctuation.
Step 4
Using memory, try to determine the meaning of the word without looking at the guide book, then check the book for accuracy. Repetition is a good teacher and over time, you can read a label without using the guide book as a reference.
Things You'll Need
- Spanish to English translation book
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