BE A LOCAL
This is Grosnez Castle in St. Ouen, but you can call it ‘grow-nay castle’ (oh, and it’s in ‘saint one’)
Decoding the dialect A local advises...
Whilst English is the most widely spoken language here in Jersey, if you find yourself interacting with some of the purest of locals you might notice a distinctive intonation that’s likely a remnant of our Norman roots despite sounding closer to a South African twang. They’re hard to find these days but they’re definitely out there, mostly hidden away in the rural parishes. I should know, I’m descended from them and occasionally find myself pronouncing an ‘arn’ sound as ‘on’ in a way that’d likely disgust the Queen. The example sentence above sums this up
relatively succinctly. If you find yourself talking to somebody who pronounces words like this there’s a good chance they’ll be able to give you reliable directions. Just make sure you’re pronouncing the place names properly. To give you a head start we’ve listed a few on the page to the right.
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