I came across a great idea online recently.
I stumbled upon
www.menugraphic.com which have invented somthing they call Pocket food guides. What they are, are pocket size pull out cards with pictures of the most common parts of meal (chicken, beef etc) and next to them appears a number of different words that represents that food item in a foreign language!
sounds like a great idea to me. I've order the special off pack which consists of german, spanish, French and Italian for a discount price. Personally i've always feared going to another country because of the language barrier and eating out is one of those things that worries me the most!
I noticed they also do menu companions for restaurant owners which are along the same concept but are A4 menu companions to help waiters deal with tourists who don't speak their native language (and apparently end up having to do impressions of a chicken or so to get a point across).
sounds like a great idea to me.