HEARING Jèrriais on the streets of St Helier will become more common thanks to a new initiative.
The Talking Street Signs project gives anyone with a smartphone – or other device with internet access – the chance to hear information about some parish landmarks spoken in the Island’s native language.
Mature students from L’Office du Jèrriais have recorded themselves relaying the history of 15 locations, which will appear in Jèrriais on silver Wayfinder signs around St Helier and have QR codes to scan.
A website – Oyez.je/jw – has also been created with a map and clips of each recorded message, available in English, Jèrriais and modern French.
The website name comes from the Jèrriais verb “oyez”, which means to hear.
One student, Laurence Curtis, explained how the idea came about: “Two visitors from Normandy who needed directions in town asked me if I spoke Jèrriais as they wanted to hear and record it. That gave me the idea to look for ways to make it easier for people to hear Jèrriais around the Island, as well as being able to see it.”
He added that the recent revival of interest in the language, supported by the government, has seen Jèrriais words appear on buses, signs and government buildings.
But he added that hearing the spoken language was more difficult – until now.
Working with other students including JEP reporter Rod McLoughlin, Clive Jones, Helen Romeril, and Pauline Snarey, Mr Curtis discussed the idea with members of L’Office and Jersey Heritage.
The group collected recordings from Jean Le Maistre, David Marrett and the late Enid de Gruchy, who spoke Jèrriais as children, as well as from Colin Ireson and Jèrriais teachers Geraint Jennings and Aline Cattermole.
Texts of their recordings were matched with historic pictures to create the website and a French version was also added to help visitors see the similarities and differences between the two languages. The Parish of St Helier then gave permission for QR stickers to be placed on each Wayfinder sign.
“I hope that the recordings will help bring Jèrriais to people who might not otherwise hear it and perhaps inspire some of them to start learning the language, too,” Mr Curtis said.
Anyone seeking further information can email: admin@oyez.je
