Does Louisiana teach French?

In 1969, the State Department of Education authorized the teaching of French as a second language in the elementary and secondary public schools. Today, almost 100,000 students across Louisiana study French, and there are 26 French immersion schools in eight parishes.

Do people in Louisiana have French accents?

English is now spoken by the vast majority of the Cajun population, but French influence remains strong in terms of inflection and vocabulary. Their accent is considerably distinct from other General American accents. However, French in Louisiana is now seeing something of a cultural renaissance.

Is French still spoken in New Orleans?

French is still occasionally natively spoken by Cajuns to the south and west of New Orleans, in Lafayette and the rest of “Cajun Country,” but New Orleans, as a melting pot of many cultures besides French and Cajun, has used English as its dominant language for many generations.

Are all Cajuns French?

Most Cajuns are of French descent. While Lower Louisiana had been settled by French colonists since the late 17th century, the Cajuns trace their roots to the influx of Acadian settlers after the Great Expulsion from their homeland during the French and British hostilities prior to the Seven Years’ War (1756 to 1763).

Is Louisiana today French?

It was estimated that there were a million French speakers in Louisiana in 1968. Today the number is pegged at 150,000 to 200,000. Those who speak French as their first language tend to be older than 70, and their children often never picked it up.

What language do they speak in Louisiana?

Then there is Louisiana Creole, a language native to Louisiana and derived from French. Both are still spoken in Louisiana today, though the population has been experiencing a severe decline in recent decades.

Can you speak French in New Orléans?

First, French is a private language in Louisiana, not a public one. They won’t really speak it in the streets, in public. It won’t really be visible, and you can’t just be dropped in Louisiana and try your luck speaking French around you. Sadly, the New Orléans is perhaps the place where you are the least likely to find it.

Is there a “French-speaking community” in Louisiana?

Secondly, there is no such thing as a “French-speaking community” in the sense that speaking French in Louisiana is an individual initiative, not a collective one. And what is the most missing is a notion of collective rights attached to the language, which is the most crucial difference with the north.

What percentage of Louisiana speaks French in parishes?

Parishes marked in yellow are those where 4–10\% of the population speak French or Cajun French at home, orange 10–15\%, red 15–20\%, brown 20–30\%. The list of Louisiana parishes by French-speaking population was created from the 2000 Census of the United States.