How many French speakers are in Louisiana?
Louisiana French is still a vernacular language. But it is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 people can speak it in Louisiana.
Is there a large French population in Louisiana?
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. Louisiana French advocates are fighting an uphill battle.
What are French people in Louisiana called?
The Cajuns (/ˈkeɪdʒən/; Louisiana French: les Cadiens), also known as Acadians (Louisiana French: les Acadiens), are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
When did people stop speaking French in Louisiana?
Recently arrived Anglo-Americans referred to all poor French- and Creole-speaking Louisianians as Cajuns (a plausible origin for the famous South Louisiana expression “poor Cajun”). Between 1920 and 1960, usage of French or Creole was forbidden in virtually all aspects of life in South Louisiana.
Is Cajun French a dying language?
Past studies have shown that Creole French is considered a dying language in Louisiana, but locals say otherwise. Creole French, also known as Louisiana Creole and Louisiana French Creole, was labeled as an endangered language in 2010 due to the rapid decline in the number of its speakers.
Is Louisiana a poor state?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the national poverty rate was 10.5% percent or 34 million Americans in 2019. These states and territories have the highest percentages of poverty in the country: Puerto Rico, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and South Carolina.
Is Louisiana the least educated state?
A new WalletHub study has ranked Louisiana as the 48th most educated state in America. The most educated states according to the study were Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont and Colorado. …
Why is Cajun French dying?
The decline of free French-language Catholic schools in southwestern Louisiana has made the Cajun population almost entirely Anglophone. In New Orleans, Francophone Creole of Color communities were folded by Jim Crow laws into the larger English-speaking African American population.
Is Cajun and French the same?
What is Cajun French? Cajun French is the term generally used to describe the variety of French spoken in South Louisiana. However, even Cajun and Louisiana Creole have many lexical, phonological and syntactical elements in common.