French influence in Louisiana

[NewsCopy]

In the southern US, French is spoken by a community of 500,000 people.

These are the Cajun people, descendants of French-speaking Canadians who were forced from their homes by the English in the 18th century.

Today they make up a tenth of Louisiana and their presence over the years have left a marked influence on the state.

These days, the Cajuns continue their traditions through music and song, which help them to keep their linguistic heritage alive.
 
 

[axg8750]

Is there supposed to be a picture or video attached?

This is a very interesting subject to me. I really enjoy learning more about the Cajun heritage.

I deeply regret not learning Cajun French before my grandpaw passed away.

[Turbine]

There is a video.

Must be some form of flash, it works on my surface RT but not my phone.

[Frenchie35]

My mother spoke english and french. Her father spoke both. Her mother could not speak english. Now back in the early forties I spent my summers at my grandfather and grandmothers house, a small farm out of Thibodaux, a community call Brule Guillot. I was 5-6 year old at the time. My grandfather would translate what my grandmother had to say. So needless to say I did not pick up french. My mother did not speak french to her children. So we never learned french. In later years I asked my mother why she did not speak french to us. Well in those days, the forties, it was looked down on kids talking french in school.....My wife could not speak english when she moved to Lafayette in the early forties and was severely punished in school when she spoke french. Now she has lost her french.....

[California Cajun]

My mother spoke english and french. Her father spoke both. Her mother could not speak english. Now back in the early forties I spent my summers at my grandfather and grandmothers house, a small farm out of Thibodaux, a community call Brule Guillot. I was 5-6 year old at the time. My grandfather would translate what my grandmother had to say. So needless to say I did not pick up french. My mother did not speak french to her children. So we never learned french. In later years I asked my mother why she did not speak french to us. Well in those days, the forties, it was looked down on kids talking french in school.....My wife could not speak english when she moved to Lafayette in the early forties and was severely punished in school when she spoke french. Now she has lost her french.....

As a transplant, I'm really sorry to hear about the discouragement of speaking French. I think the law forbidding it in schools lasted from 1923-1968. I guess people were afraid that those with French as their original language wouldn't persevere to learn English if this wasn't discouraged. I worked for a man 20 years who learned French before English. It's a shame that subsequent generations of families like these didn't become bilingual.

One thing I learned is that school isn't a place to learn a language. I took five years of Spanish, made B's across the board, and didn't learn to speak it. You have to immerse yourself in the language, which kids had the ability to do with bi-lingual parents.

The Cajun mystique is going to figure prominently in UL's rise in college athletics. That was evident in the 2000 College World Series. The two non-heralded programs that made it were UL and San Jose State. The announcers talked on and on about interesting cultural tidbits surrounding UL and really couldn't come up with anything to say about SJSU. Fans in Omaha adopted UL as one of their teams. This scenario will repeat itself if and when more UL teams make inroads in postseason play.

[CajunRed]

And now we provide assistance, whenever needed, in almost any and every language you can think of. How things have changed.