re: How French was almost decimated and efforts to save it in Louisiana

My family has been in Louisiana since before it was part of the United States. I’m the first generation native English speaker. My French unfortunately is elementary. My daughter is in immersion now. My dad was beaten in school whenever he spoke French. There was a time when the government tried to eradicate the Cajun language

It is my moms first language and my dad learned from his Grandfather. Though it was spoken in our house they never thought us. My mom started school in the late 50s and she always said that they were adamant about not speaking French at school, my dad said the same. I can follow a bit of conversation, but no where near fluent. My wife is a polyglot who can speak and teach multiple languages and she speaks to my parents in French ,and I wish they would have thought me. For some of the older posters on here that do speak French speak it exclusively with your grandkids they will pick it up fast and being bilingual is a huge advantage.

French is a fairy language not fit for the bayou. Merci beaucoup.

On devrait commencer un thread pour les posters francophones pour discuter et partager des histoires.

If you live in America, you should speak American.

Oui

Not saying this is you specifically OP, but in general while I too am sad like most about what the US govt did to French here, I also am pretty tired of the finger pointing we do all while virtually no one takes an active approach to reestablishing it in the state. I’m stealing local crusader for Louisiana French Jourdan Thibodeaux’s words here, but if the language one day goes away, and you are sad about that, then don’t let it be your fault. Anyone can pick up Duolingo etc. There are endless French resources available online and in our case locally as well.

I love efforts to save old languages Esp here in the US


hell people in Texas no longer speak Texan'