Hello, I am attempting to learn French. I am particularly interested in the Cajun dialect. I have found some great resources online. However, I would like to find an online instructor to meet with once or twice a month for pronunciation practice and help with specific questions. So far, this has been quite difficult to find. I see that there are certain classes and conversations groups online, but they all seem to be full. Does anyone know where I might be able to find a online French tutor or conversation group that is accepting new students? I am a complete beginner. Thanks!

Hello! I am a French learner who is doing so for fun. Although I am basically a glorified beginner, what are some Cajun French slang and acronyms I should know?

My creole relatives would say it, it sounds like: fille petê (not a French expert just making a guess)

Basically means “son of a b****” or something like that

Salut! Just want clarity on conjugating verbs in cajun. I’ve tried in groups and they don’t seem to know. I ask because I have a few books and they don’t seem to agree either. So I see that cajun can conjugate verbs in the present the same way as metropolitan french OR they seem to use the 3rd singular for all the plurals so basically they are all the same, so a verb like partir -> pars, pars, part, part, part, part or partont. All I’m finding on this is a loosy goosy commitment and I would like to learn it better. Merci

How would you translate “born on the bayou” in Cajun French?

J'adore français et j'aimerais un amie à parler français avec moi, je suis américain et 24 ans, et je un l'homme, mon français est p'tit mais je étudie tous les jours, merci pour lire!

Okay so I know maudire tête dur means "damn hard head", I grew up hearing it. Well recently my grandfather said something that I have known idea what I means nor do I know how to spell it. He said "maudire ti (and a word that sounds like job or dyob)". Anyone know what the word could possibly be, how to spell it/what it means in English so I can use my Cajun French dictionary, or if it's even a real word. Thanks

Hey everyone, I'm from Acadiana but moved a few years back. I recently got a new puppy, named Beignet, and thought it would be a fun idea to train him with Cajun French commands instead of English. My knowledge of the language really came down to pretty common phrases and words so I don't know allot of the ones I need, or I can't quite remember if I'm correct or not on others. The commands I can think of that I would need are:

Come Sit Stop Down Lay Good Stay Drop Off Heel Potty Bed Quiet Watch Shake Wait Leave Take Leash Car

Thanks so much in advance for anyone that is willing to take the time to help me out!

I’ve been learning words and phrases for the past few years and since I’m home for the holidays and seeing them I was just wondering

Hello,

I am very interested in learning specifically Cajun French, as my family historically on my mother's side were originally francophone, having originally come to the American Gulf Coast in 1699. They were among the first French settlers of what is today the United States Gulf Coast. My mother's family extended all the way across colonial Louisiana from New Orleans through Biloxi, Ms to Mobile, Al and have lived there for centuries. Some of my maternal line trace directly back to the incipient voyages of Bienville and D'Iberville in 1699 while others trace back to Acadia and the expulsion of the Acadians into Louisiana. For the majority of my family's history, we spoke French exclusively or at least primarily, however, this tradition has sadly died off in my immediate family (the last of my direct ancestors to speak French natively was my Great, great grandma who spoke French and English natively and died in 1962).

I really want to reconnect with this part of my family history by learning to speak, read, and write in competent French, however, I want particularly to learn the variety of French my ancestors spoke, not the standard Langue d'oil variants that seemingly all French resources/courses (sans Quebecois of course) base themselves on.

How should I reasonably start this process? Should I start with standard Parisian French then as I grow into the intermediate stage start looking into the phonetic and grammatical peculiarities of Cajun French, or should I focus on Cajun pronunciation, vocab, and usage from the very beginning in spite of the lack of clear and available resources for it geared towards beginners?

I should clarify, my main point in this is to ask specifically about resource utilization and management for these peculiarities, not for advice about learning a new language in general. I already know two other foreign languages and I'm not worried about the learning process from a wholisitic pov. I'm mainly concerned about picking up what would be considered standard or academic european french and that getting in the way of being able to connect to my family's history as closely as I would like to.

I appreciate any and all advice, and I'd be extra obliged for any online (preferably free) resources y'all could throw my way.

Thanks!

I grew up in Lafayette, LA, but my parents didn’t speak any Cajun French, and my grandparents wouldn’t speak French to my generation, so the most I know is a bit of slang.

There was a word that we used for being upset - phonetically it would be “boo-fa-yay-d”. What is the word? I’ve searched lots of Cajun French websites / blogs that list slang and can’t find it.

Hey yall,

My grandmothers side of the family is Cajun, but unfortunately due to stigma she never became fluent in Cajun French, so any level of French ability my family had ended there. Which is admittedly pretty distant to me. However, both my grandmother and I have been more seriously considering trying to learn the language properly as of late, but unfortunately I know very little French. I pretty much only know scattered words and phrases, and I'm never sure if those are France French or Cajun lol

If I'm being honest, I don't really have strong feelings about France French. My main motivation is bonding with my grandmother and learning some of our family's old language to connect to my roots and history more.

So, to sum it up, is it at all feasible to learn Cajun French on its own, or would it be far too difficult without a strong prior background of France French abilities?

Just wanted to show my appreciation for everyone keeping the language alive and having easy to find resources!

Speaking from experience, St Tammany has no programs for teaching any kind of French to elementary or middle school kids, and currently I’m very far from Louisiana and never plan on moving back. It’s only being abroad that I’ve realized how much I should’ve learnt Cajun French when I had the chance. But, becuase of you all on here, I’ve found resources to help me transition from European French to one I can speak with my Grandmother.

What ya’ll do is invaluable. Y’all are keeping Louisiana alive, and for that I can’t thank y’all enough.

Bonjour tous!

I am cajun on my father side, but I lived most of my life far from Acadania, and speak little french, let alone cajun. I did spend holidays at my memère and pepère though, which I keep fond memories of.

One night when I couldn't sleep, my grandfather picked up his guitar and started playing me a song in cajun french.

The song sounded like a waltz, very melancholic yet gentle. The lyrics, if I recall correctly, would often repeat "Oooooh, cher, mon cher ballon, mon seul ami [...] Cest la cause de toi, mon cher ballon". and another verse went something like "si j'avais déja écouté ma chère vieil maman on sera pas dans la misère. Oooh, chere, ma chere maman..."

My pepère passed away a while ago, memère joined him recently and now I regret not asking them about the song when I could. I tried searching the lyrics online or asking my dad and a few online canadian friends but they can't figure out what song that would be.

For all I know I might've understood the lyrics completely wrong, or it may very well be a song my grandfather made up on the spot. But if it rings a bell to anyone I'd be eternally grateful. The song still resonates in me to this day, and if it really does exist, I'd love to hear it one more time and learn it so I could connect better with the culture of my departed grandparents.

Merci beaucoup :)

My grandma's dad was a Louisiana-Texas cajun and she picked up a phrase from him. I know couyon means foolish, but she had another word in front of it which sounds like Sauce-a or Sas-ae (I don't know how it's spelled) and I would like to know if anyone knows what it means and how it's spelled. When I did anything dumb she would say it and tap me on the forehead with the back of her hand.

https://www.assemblee.la/

New community-driven organisation to push for better cultural and French immersion in the state of Louisiana. Kick off meeting for members happened over the weekend. The organisation is in the very early stages, articulating concrete objectives, meeting cadence, discussing the best way to organise chapters and membership fees, etc, but it was great to see the energy in the room. Lots of people passionate about the preservation of Louisiana French and culture. If you're interested in getting involved feel free to get on their email list for for information.

And it's open to members out of state (like myself), you can join meetings via Zoom :)

I’m looking for advice from other language learners. My Louisiana Cajun grandparents were the last generation in the family to speak French at home. Growing up outside the state, I was interested in learning but didn’t know how to approach it (sadly my grandparents began to forget the language with age and the changing environment as French was spoken less and less).

After college, I moved abroad and incidentally am now learning Metropolitan (“standard”) French because it’s my partner’s first language and his parents’ only language. I think this is a great opportunity to revisit learning Cajun French, as working off a foundation in Metropolitan French could be easier than starting from scratch with Cajun. It seems a lot of the resources for Cajun French have key phrases and word translations, but they don’t have the full suite of grammar lessons like in general French books (unless I just haven’t found them yet!)

Anyone who’s familiar with both dialects- do you think learning them in parallel would be efficient or confusing? Not sure if it’s better to get a good foundation in Metropolitan French and then study the Cajun dialect separately; then maybe I’ll have more context around what’s different/similar between the two.

Thanks for any opinions on this :)

Cajuns have, in my opinion, the most interesting history in the United States and the coolest accents ever. It is a tragedy that the uniqueness of Louisianans and Cajuns is at risk of being forgotten. The United States’s monolingualism is so boring compared to the rest of the world. The struggles you guys have gone through to keep your language was criminal, and sadly not remembered by the vast majority of Americans. After I finish learning Spanish, I absolutely want to learn French and visit Louisiana.

I was just wondering is this a real last name or one that was made up for the Jamie Foxx Show for Braxton’s character.

Okay so my French is a bit rusty. But ever since I started working at the state library I’ve been thinking about my Cajun heritage and for the life of me there’s a phrase my grandmother used to call me that I cannot remember. It was when I was getting on her nerves (and I still do), she told me it meant “a botheration” but I can’t remember the actual words/phrase. I think it started with the “mah” sound. Anyone have any clue what I’m talking about?