La Langue Française: Losing Numerous Speakers?

[from the plaines]

[quote=Douai;11503591]Thanks Pike for that information.That was interesting to find out about Côte d'Ivoire.Yeah, I knew that most people in Louisiana don't currently speak French.I have heard that legislation has been proposed to revive French there.
quote]


Yea since I think the 70s there has been groups that have been trying to increase the number of French speakers. From what I heard more people are starting to get interested in it again. But a mix of more new people moving in, as well as the crack down in the earlier part of last century on the culture really hurt it. One can hope though that it will survive. In Illinois more or less the French roots have been forgotten. Heck most people don't even know why we don't pronounce the s at the end of the states name, but they will get mad at you if you do that :rolleyes:

[Pierre-Henri]

Pike, do you teach in Africa ? How difficult (or easy) is it ? To spend a few years there could be a solution with my CV, but I'm still pondering it.

[Pike]

Pike, do you teach in Africa ?

Yes, I teach at the International School.




How difficult (or easy) is it ? To spend a few years there could be a solution with my CV, but I'm still pondering it.

Well, I am a anglophone living in a french- speaking country. My experiences may be entirely different from what you experience. Also, being french isn't exacly better either. On several occasions, being Americans was a plus, as opposed to being French. BUT, there ae still a lot of French around, so it may not be an opinion shared by all Ivorians.

If you have never been in a developing country. It will be a shock to you. There are two factors that will make it an easier transition, one, you can speak french, two, there will be familiar foods and products. If you are adventurous & have a good sense of humor, then it may be a good move for you.

Abidjan, for a developing country have excellent infrstructure. Unfortunately, it has not been well maintained since the civil war.

What kind of work do you do?

[Pierre-Henri]

So far, I take benefit of the excellent french "modèle social" (ie, I'm jobless). I have a Phd in French literature and was awarded the 2006 thesis prize of the Academy of Strasbourg. I worked on French, African and Caribbean french-speaking poetry.

I wasn't thinking about Ivory Coast but about quieter countries (like Burkina Faso). I'm not at all the Indiana Jones type, you know. I just need to find a work ... anywhere.

[Breakwood]

Its almost the same for Québécois French.I even read somewhere that the interintelligibility between Québécois French and Metropolitan French is even further than the interintelligibility between American English and British English.

It's true. While the well educated Quebeckers (those who have gone through university) can converse easily with people from France, the rural Quebeckers have difficulty. In the rural parts of Quebec, the language has changed so much that Joual (Quebec Slang) has become almost an entire new language. I'm reading a book right now, Sorry I Don't Speak French, about bilingualism in Canada, and it points out that some award winning Quebec movies have had to have subtitles put in durring screenings in France because the French couldn't understand the dialogue.

[guignol]

when i was living in quebec, i went deep into the countryside of the rive sud (selling apples buy the crate) where i had to communicate by signs. it wasn't because i was only just learning french; in fact these people never imagined i could be american... they just thought i was from montréal!

[Pike]

It's true. ... In the rural parts of Quebec, the language has changed so much that Joual (Quebec Slang) has become almost an entire new language. .

:eek: What do you mean by "change?" Typically, in a rural setting, language becomes static, rather than evolving in more cosmopolitan setting.

[Breakwood]

:eek: What do you mean by "change?" Typically, in a rural setting, language becomes static, rather than evolving in more cosmopolitan setting.

This change was caused by the years that Quebec was ruled by the British. After the French defeat at the battle of the plains of abraham, the British took control of Quebec and made it illegal for Frenchmen or Catholics to hold any of the important positions. The British tryed at first to get rid of French in Quebec, but in reality they only really changed it around abit from the French that was spoken in France. Thus Joual, is a much different language from Metropolitain French. Many words in Joual are english words, that are altered.

[guignol]

The British tryed at first to get rid of French in Quebec, but in reality they only really changed it around abit from the French that was spoken in France.Many words in Joual are english words, that are altered...badlucky for them, but quebeckers are roughandtough!

[Pike]

This change was caused by the years that Quebec was ruled by the British. ... The British tryed at first to get rid of French in Quebec, but in reality they only really changed it around abit from the French that was spoken in France. Thus Joual, is a much different language from Metropolitain French. Many words in Joual are english words, that are altered.


Thanks for the clarification:)

[Pike]

So far, I take benefit of the excellent french "modèle social" (ie, I'm jobless). I have a Phd in French literature and was awarded the 2006 thesis prize of the Academy of Strasbourg. I worked on French, African and Caribbean french-speaking poetry.

I wasn't thinking about Ivory Coast but about quieter countries (like Burkina Faso). I'm not at all the Indiana Jones type, you know. I just need to find a work ... anywhere.

Well, the less adventurous of all of the West African Sub- Saharan countries is Cote d'Ivoire. The political situation is much brighter today than it was back in August when I first arrived. They reorganized the government (power sharing), and they agreed on conditions concerning voting rights for immigrants to the country.

There is also Morocco,... which is more developed than all o Sub Saharan Africa.

[Nanbawan]

Its almost the same for Québécois French.I even read somewhere that the interintelligibility between Québécois French and Metropolitan French is even further than the interintelligibility between American English and British English.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtddv_lapin-compris

[Douai]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtddv_lapin-compris

Heh :D.

[ilv2]

^another site you might want to try is Têtes à claques :

http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/

[Douai]

^another site you might want to try is Têtes à claques :

http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/

I have seen their stuff before.Man Québécois French sounds weird.

[Breakwood]

I have seen their stuff before.Man Québécois French sounds weird.

Speak for yourself, Metropolitain French sounds snobby :p

I actually have no problem with it either way. Quebecois French is like southern US english, while metropolitain french is like British english.

[Catfish]

Well my wife is an American with French ancestors and she
took 7yrs of French. We bought a French language primer
for our 2 daughters. I also teach them Spanish (im part
Spanish). I have always believed that everyone should know
at least 2 languages. Plus building a connection between the
vanilla/generic/homogenized American "culture" and our
ancestors is important to me. I want my daughters to know
and appreciate other cultures especially the past
generations of our families.

[Douai]

Well my wife is an American with French ancestors and she
took 7yrs of French. We bought a French language primer
for our 2 daughters. I also teach them Spanish (im part
Spanish). I have always believed that everyone should know
at least 2 languages. Plus building a connection between the
vanilla/generic/homogenized American "culture" and our
ancestors is important to me. I want my daughters to know
and appreciate other cultures especially the past
generations of our families.

How is that going for your daughters? Are they progressing fairly well? There are several great French courses out there. If you need any advice just ask.

[Catfish]

How is that going for your daughters? Are they progressing fairly well? There are several great French courses out there. If you need any advice just ask.
Thanks so much. We read it to them a few times a week.
Our 5yo can say the words, but our 21 months is barely
speaking English, lol.

[Douai]

Thanks so much. We read it to them a few times a week.
Our 5yo can say the words, but our 21 months is barely
speaking English, lol.

I hope it works out great for them. FSI French, Assimil, and French in Action are good courses that they could use when they get a little older.