How many people speak Cajun French in La (Lafayette, New Iberia: college, pharmacy)

[MorganTrinkaus]

Originally Posted by CMA2014

The future tense in Cajun is a compound tense consisting of article + to go + verb, so instead of saying "J'irai" for "I will go" or "Je travaillerai" in Classic French, we say "J'vas aller" and "J'vas travailler". This is actually a fairly common evolutionary attribute of modern language and is prevalent in Louisiana French.

Both of those are actually used in Parisian French (except that the latter would be written je vais aller, je vais travailler). The distinction between j'irai and je vais aller is subtle; the latter is a little more informal and usually refers to the near future.

[spatin]

I grew up in Lafayette and everyone older than me spoke French. My grandparents spoke only French and would not respond if someone spoke to them in English. But in school French was discouraged and I just never learned it. Now I regret it. Cajun French is a dying language, but they are trying very hard to keep it going.

[SacalaitWhisperer]

It sounds like the french have spelling police too.

Most Americans these days speak spanish, not french is the reality of the situation.
Pas bon.

Cajuns are one of the very few real minorities in the USA.

How many speak Cajun French? Not very many... a relatively small percentage of the population...
and less every day.

[Veronique18]

I am from New Orleans, but am temporarily living in Los angeles. I totally agree with Doug. I have four years of French from school in New Orleans, and I am right now minoring in French in school. I am going to move back home and teach French. I think we need more support in areas in Louisiana that are trying to hang on to their French heritage,and what we have left of the spoken French language. I think it would be awful if this was lost. I believe it would be great to have French support groups, to help keep French alive in our generation and the next.

[bustaduke]

Originally Posted by Veronique18

I am from New Orleans, but am temporarily living in Los angeles. I totally agree with Doug. I have four years of French from school in New Orleans, and I am right now minoring in French in school. I am going to move back home and teach French. I think we need more support in areas in Louisiana that are trying to hang on to their French heritage,and what we have left of the spoken French language. I think it would be awful if this was lost. I believe it would be great to have French support groups, to help keep French alive in our generation and the next.

French and Cajun are completely different languages.

busta

[Veronique18]

Hi my name is Maribeth I am a friend of Veronique. I am also from New Orleans and agree with Doug. I really appreciate the people of Lafayette and how they have consistantly preserved the cuture and language no matter what changes happen around them. Any native of Louisiana should be involved in this preservation. New people moving in should'nt be a factor. Lets teach them to respect our culture and language instead of letting them change us. Its lazziness to use these new comers and the fact that they speak another language as an excuse to allow ours to dissapear.

[mhounit]

Originally Posted by bustaduke

French and Cajun are completely different languages.

busta

" completely " different ? Nope .

[bustaduke]

Originally Posted by mhounit

" completely " different ? Nope .

Some of the words are the same but most are different. My father-in-law is Cajun and speaks Cajun along with most of his family and I have been told that they don't understand a lot of the French language from overseas.

busta

[annie_himself]

French, cajun and creole, should be taught at young ages in public schools, and encouraged in private schools. People ask me if I can speak French all the time in Houston, and I sadly answer "No, not a lick"
I would love to have been taught at an earlier age.

[jonsereed]

Originally Posted by bustaduke

Some of the words are the same but most are different. My father-in-law is Cajun and speaks Cajun along with most of his family and I have been told that they don't understand a lot of the French language from overseas.

busta

cajun is reminiscent of the language spoken in the maritime provinces of Canada (Acadien), and for good reason since its where the cajuns originate after all.

quebec french is sort of between cajun and european french, as a quebec resident myself I understand european french just fine with little to no effort but I cant say the same about cajun although I may catch the general drift of it.