Episode 5 - Le Chausson Show with Hilda Gisclair

In Episode 5 of Paroles de la Louisiane, co-hosts Amanda LaFleur and Ryan Langley watch a clip from the Youtube series Le Chausson Show before discussing the Louisiana-specific aspects of the language used in it. Topics include: interrogative pronouns, clothes vocabulary, and the regional pronunciation of /h/ where one might otherwise hear /ʒ/ (“H’aime” ça, “H’ai” été… etc).

Additional Information:

Interview by “Jean LeChausson” (Rocky McKeon) from his Youtube series (Le Chausson Show)

• Source material: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6t5EAwqoOI

In this episode, the hosts discuss:

• chausson and other clothes-related vocabulary
• Question words: qui (when used for both people and things), ayoù, équand, quoi faire
• regional phonological shift where /ʒ/ becomes /h/: “H’ai déménahé …”
• the verb rester
• [Rapid fire] icitte/aussitte, the verb rester, les grands-petits-enfants

Classroom Takeaway:

If someone is interested in integrating more local language into their classroom, vocabulary is a great place to start! It can take a lot of time and exposure to understand more complex phenomena, to know when and where to say regionalisms like “Qui t’aimes cuire?” or “H’ai déménahé..” but vocab is much more accessible – whether it’s the vocabulary associated with clothes, animals, food, weather, plants… There are plenty of possibilities! Check out the Louisiana vocabulary cards CODOFIL made in collaboration with the Louisiana Consortium of Immersion Schools: immersionla.org/gombo-de-mots

Episode 4 - The LPB Series En Français - Guidry Family

In Episode 4 of Paroles de la Louisiane, co-hosts Amanda LaFleur and Ryan Langley take another look at the material in the LPB archives. They watch an interview clip from a 1982 episode of En Français before discussing the Louisiana-specific aspects of the language used in it. Topics include: Louisiana towns with multiple names, the passé composé, and agricultural vocabulary.

Additional Information:

Interview from the LPB show En Français

• Source material: http://ladigitalmedia.org/video_v2/asset-detail/LFRAN-0217

In this episode, the hosts discuss:

• Louisiana towns with more than one name (ex: Royville=Youngsville)
• the passé compose and the tendency to use avoir as the auxiliary verb
• the difference between j’sus parti (je suis parti) and j’ai parti
• the variants faidait and vadait
• swapping of L’s for R’s – rougarou, rabourer, carculer
• some agricultural vocabulary
• a discussion of language variation and language rules using the example of “Ses enfants a eu ça.”
• [Rapid fire] un ‘tit brin de tout quèquechose, courir to mean gérer, une halle vs. une boucherie in Louisiana

Classroom Takeaway: Every language and language variety has its own grammar, its own set of rules for what works and doesn't work in that language. We may have heard people say things like "That's ungrammatical!" but when we're looking at a language variety - for example, discussing the language used by a native speaker of Louisiana French - it isn't really a question of "grammatical" or not, but rather a question of a different set of rules. That different set of rules might be less suited to certain contexts, but it would be inaccurate to say that it "doesn't have a grammar" or "doesn't follow the rules.”

Episode 3 - The Widows’ Table by Le Théâtre Cadien

In Episode 3 of Paroles de la Louisiane, co-hosts Amanda LaFleur and Ryan Langley make use of Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s video archives. They watch a scene from an LPB recording of a 1982 stage production by Le Théâtre Cadien before discussing the Louisiana-specific aspects of the language used in it. Topics include: faux amis verbs like espérer and attendre, common salutations in Louisiana, and the subject pronoun vous-autres.

Additional Information:

Scene from a recorded stage production:

• Source material: http://ladigitalmedia.org/video_v2/asset-detail/LFRAN-0306

In this episode, the hosts discuss:

• some faux amis verbs: espérer, attendre

• Louisiana salutations like Comment les affaires? and Quoi ça dit?

• vous-autres as a subject pronoun

Classroom Takeaway: Even when confronted with forms that are quite far from the “standard” let’s not be too quick to think of differences as inherently “good” or “bad” – keep an open mind! Also, global languages can show a lot of variation, even in things like subject pronouns. Take the example of vosotros/vos/ustedes in Spanish: just because a Spaniard says “vosotros” doesn’t mean that every American learning Spanish needs to know that conjugation. On the other hand, there’s also nothing wrong with that form: it may not be universal, but it’s legitimate in its context.

Episode 2 - Give Me Another Chance by Belton Richard

In Episode 2 of Paroles de la Louisiane, co-hosts Amanda LaFleur and Ryan Langley listen to a song, Belton Richard’s “Donne-moi une autre chance,” before discussing the Louisiana-specific aspects of the language used in it. Topics include: the futur proche conjugation je vas, the optional dropping of the conjunction que, and the present progressive tense (‘après faire qqch’).

Additional Information:

In this episode, the hosts discuss:

• the conjugation je vas and the importance of futur proche

• simplifying terminal consonant clusters: viv(re), aut(re), tab(le), pias(tre), etc.

• possible variations with qui and que: elision of qui, dropping of que

• the present progressive using après + [verb]

• [Rapid fire]: asteur, pronunciation of le mien, s’il vous plait as a fixed expression

Classroom Takeaway: We can say “piasse” and write piastre. (Or we can write “piasse” if we want to write “in dialect” – for example, for the dialogue of a play.) People can choose to write in a standardized way without it being a judgment on spoken language.