LAFAYETTE, La. — Some local stores are implementing entirely new ways of communicating with customers.
The Council for the Development of French Language in Louisiana (CODOFIL) has partnered with Lafayette Travel to implement the “Lafayette en Français” project to make Lafayette a more French-speaking city.
“This helps bring our community together,” Amis Grocery co-owner Rachel Granier said.
But this project can bring the same feeling to tourists.
“We had some customers from France, and I could tell they were curious to take a peek at our regular menu,” Johnson’s Boucaniere owner Lori Walls said. “I said, ‘Do you speak French?’ and they said, ‘Yes,’ and I reached over and handed them the French menu, and their faces lit up. They were so excited that they had something useful.”
KATC Photo
If you see the above sign in a restaurant, it means that the restaurant provides French translations of their menu.
“We use it pretty heavily. We get a lot of international travelers coming in at least once or twice a week from Canada, France and Belgium, and it allows us to communicate with our customers when they come in,” said Bradley Crews, co-owner of Amis Grocery.
With a grant from the Lafayette Visitors Enterprise Fund, administered by the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission (Lafayette Travel), CODOFIL launched the Lafayette en Français project, which offers translated menus as a way to further incorporate Louisiana French into the tourism industry.
“I think we always tend to focus on the cultural value of the French language and how much it means to us,” says Marguerite Justus, a community development specialist with CODOFIL. “There’s also the economic value. That’s what makes our region different from other parts of the U.S.”
The project feeds into CODOFIL’s larger effort, the Oui! initiative, to make French-friendly businesses even more accessible to tourists and locals alike.
The Oui! Initiative is a database of Louisiana businesses that can provide services in French, whether all of their staff are fluent in French, only one member of their staff is fluent in French, or they have materials translated into French.
“It’s not just swamp tours and restaurants and things like that, it’s also things that Louisianans are likely to use, so we have all kinds of businesses, from lawyers to dentists to real estate agents to auto mechanics,” Justus said.
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CODOFIL recently received word that it had won a grant to fund a second round of the Lafayette en Français project, and this time, in addition to more restaurants, it hopes to attract other businesses in the tourism industry, such as hotels and car rental companies.
If you think your business would benefit from materials translated into French, please email CODOFIL at codofil@crt.la.gov or call 337-262-5810.
