Sunday 28 November 2010

Don't forget your Jersey

Don't forget your Jersey - The Times (South Africa) does a tourism write-up that includes a mention of Jèrriais. A little bit of language branding goes a long way!

We were heading for an island a mere 22.5km off France, yet we were not to see one baguette, beret or game of boules. We landed instead on an island so quintessentially English that fish and chips with mushy peas featured on most menus. Jersey is a tiny enclave of Great Britain, yet the fact that the faintly-twinkling lights on the horizon at night are French and not English adds to its allure...

The small airport's signage bids one welcome in English and Jèrriais, a form of the ancient Norman language. Our taxi driver was unmistakably English though, morosely muttering that the good weather wouldn't last. Happily, he was proved wrong...

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