conversational french?
 

Wanting to learn French as a family. We enjoy the cajun music, but honestly don't know what most of the lyrics mean. Any pointers or suggestions on learning the language? I checked out rosetta stone, but just wanted to see if there was a better way to learn conversational coon-*** french before I bought the rosetta stone for the famlily.

Find a old coonass and ask them to teach u. Cajun french is a lot different than the French spoke in France

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If u have a local Cajun French music association chapter, they will offer free Cajun French language and dance lessons

Check the bayou Vermilionvill no good for pottery or much else but might have classes.

http://www.cajunfrench.org/

http://ilcpan.giza.tulane.edu/cajun/Cajun.html#

Was using these sites, but have backed off. Need to get back to it. Used to be fluent, Grandmother died and no one else spoke it much and lost it.

They had a priest that wrote a Cajun French dictionary. U can look for that.

very true, I learned French and NOTHING spoken in Cajun is the same so I didn't know and still don't know what the heck they were sayin. I worry because I love the music but if I knew what they were singin I might not like it as much anymore lol.

its like a language to itself

Rev. Jules Daigle wrote a great book on Cajun French. It also has a CD with it:
Great Reference tool. Good luck!!

The above referenced book is pretty much the authority on Cajun French in a written form. It is predominately a spoken language and as such has many dialects. It is my experience that it is closest to Parisian French from the middle of the state (prairie Cajuns) and begins to get more area specific with coloqialisms farther south(bayou cajuns). I personally have embarrassed myself by using a word that meant something very different than my base of knowledge. If you are interested in song translation , that can be done by finding someone (preferably old school) from the music industry to interpret the words and meanings.

Joe Pitre a deux femme.....fais pas sa Joe Pitre! Lol

Good luck and I Think it's pretty cool that you wish to learn about it.

http://www.cajunlyrics.com/

There are a good bit of lyrics on this website. Some have translations, but many don't. Also there can be several variations of the same somg sang by different artist. this website may only have 1 version.

My Uncle who passed away made quite a few youtube videos on Cajun French. I'll link them later. Skip Oubre is his user name if you want to search it like that.

been using the tulane website. Thanks JCheif. Good starting point

I know a lot of it but never use it. I have to stop and think for a minute to remember all the words. My grandparents only spoke French. My parents spoke both.

There are lots of differences between Cajun French, and what's spoken in France. But I just want to mention, it's not completely different. In fact, a lot of it is the same. Basically Cajun French is similar to what was spoken in France like, about 300 years ago. That is, except for the English, Spanish, and Native American words and phrases we've added to the mix. A lot has changed and "modernized" with the French language in Europe, same as English here. But the basics of it are still the same. I once read an article about Cajun GI's serving in Europe during WW2. They were initially sort of "looked down" on by some people in the Army for their thick accents and limited English skills. However, they turned out to be very useful in France. It probably took some trial and error, but they were indeed able to effectively communicate with the locals. I imagine it came in pretty handy when, say, the squad was pinned down under fire at some farm house, and the Cajun soldier was able to ask the French farmer to help locate the German sniper. Of course that's a hypothetical scenario, but it probably happened lots of times in reality. They likely asked the locals if they'd seen the Germans around, how many, things like that. I'd bet they probably also sweet talked some cute French farmer's daughters into sneaking out to the barn, and not just to barter for some fresh eggs... Lol! Anyway, the Army brass soon realized they had a valuable resource with their south Louisiana Cajun soldiers, a readily available pool of interpreters. Many of them were "officially" trained for the job, but lots of the others could improvise and "make do" when necessary, officially trained or not. Just saying.

I believe my uncle and some freinds sit down weekly and just talk French. I'll ask him if he still does it if you want.


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

https://www.usainteanne.ca/5-week

If your kids are interested in learning French, this is an amazing place to learn. A 5 week session of complete immersion if your pocketbook can allow. When my cousin and I went in 2001 it was only $1,500. It looks like it has increased a good bit sice then. They also have a 1 week session as well. You would be suprised hat you can learn in 1 week when you are immersed in the culture.

It was a scary experience, especially because I knew very little French when I showed up, but in less than 2 weeks I was thinking and dreaming in French. When we got back home we spoke nothing but French for several months and were easily able to communicate with my grandparents and other Cajun French speakers. Eventually we stopped speaking it as often and like most things you don't use for a while, you tend to forget. I can still speak and understand very little. It's a shame that I let it go. If it weren't for work and family obligations, I would go every year again to get back what I had. It was hands down one of the best summers I've ever had.

Here in the Lafayette area, there are "French Tables" in several communities. People who speak Cajun French will go to designated cafes or diners and sit at tables speaking French and helping anyone with the language during a certain time period. Really fun and a good way to learn the language.

Where can you find out where and when this happens?

That's what my uncle does


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Cajun French and the French spoken in other parts of the world do have some differences but they are not two distinct languages. I grew up speaking Cajun French, studied in Belgium, I majored in French and taught French in public schools and I am a Principal of a French Immersion school. There are various accents and dialects within Cajun French just there are in French spoken in other parts of the world; just as with English. (Someone from Mamou speaking English to someone from the Bronx would confuse someone else attempting to learn the English language because of accents, dialects, and the speed of the spoken word depending upon where they are from). Once you get a handle on the phonics of the language then things get easier. Father Daigle's dictionary is great but knowledge of French phonics is a must because when you see the words you would pronounce them in English. (An English A is pronounced "ah" in French; eaux, ot, er, ait are all pronounced like an English A. The H in French is not pronounce outside of the alphabet. Plurals are handled with "les"; in other words the adjective and noun must agree in number and gender. The verbs are the same but some of the conjugations are different. Some of the nouns used by Cajuns are also influenced by Spanish and Indian dialects. Examples: chaoui (raccoon) is Indian, taureau (bull) is Spanish. Other words used by Cajuns such as car (char) is or was used by the Europeans as a two-wheel ox cart and the Cajuns adapted it's use for car. In some parts of Europe char is used as tank but as a slang for an old beat up car. When the Cajuns arrived in S.W. La. the Hackberry tree was known as a bois inconnu (unknown wood or tree) b/c they didn't have any in Canada or Europe. A canvasback duck is a canard cheval (horse duck). The biggest difference in the spoken languages is this: Standard French..je parle (I speak, I am speaking), Cajun French...je parle (I speak), j'apres parler (I am speaking)...Cajuns use "après" as a linking verb. Apres is used as "also" in both dialects. The Cajun dialect was taught in schools in south Louisiana until around 1917. My maternal grandmother could read and write French. Her youngest brother was one of a group of Cajuns that went behind the lines in Europe during WWII, and worked with the Belgium underground. Both of my grandfathers could only speak French but their fathers could read and write it. My father-in-law's mother was literate in French and taught her children...my father-in-law wrote all his letters to her from Iwo Jima in French. I know I am being long winded and I do apologize but my advice is to learn the French language anyway you can, then get around Cajun speakers and before too long you will pick up on the accent and dialects. Practice, practice, practice. After a while you will begin to pick up the words of songs...but then again there are different dialects within the songs...just depends on where the singer was raised. If I can help you in any way please pm me...
Tim