Thanks EVPN for the sponsorship, go to www.expressvpn.com/xiaomanyc and find out how you can get 3 months of ExpressVPN free! French speakers, how much of the Creole in this video were you able to understand?
Creole French languages emerged from the intense contact between French-speaking colonizers and enslaved African populations, driven by the need for communication in a multilingual and multicultural context. Over time, these languages evolved from simplified pidgins into complex and stable creoles, becoming integral parts of the cultural and national identities of their speakers.
Je suis français de Lorraine et je dois dire que les conversations sont plutôt compréhensibles. On sent que certaines tournures de phrases sonnent anglophones, c'est-à-dire qu'elles semblent être traduites de l'anglais vers le français mot pour mot. Ce n'est pas forcément la manière de s'exprimer qu'aurait un français vivant en métropole, puisque les expressions changent d'une région à l'autre. Cependant cela reste très compréhensible, surtout pour ce qui est du vocabulaire puisqu'il est exactement le même. Et je dois te féliciter pour tes efforts et ton travail en français !
Can someone explain why ari/xiaoman repeats what he's saying a lot? I understand it's a form of informing others you are thinking but is there any benefit to it? In some languages it's used as emphasis and not thinking, you'll just repeat the same thing twice, but he does this for every language. Or is it just stimulating the connection between motor cortex/prefrontal/temporal lobes to figure out what the next word is based on muscle memory?
If he was anything like my grandpa was you'd go there and they'd be closed. Then the next time you saw him and asked him what was up with the "5am meeting" he'd about piss him self laughing that you really went looking for them.
I’m a Cajun from south Louisiana, and this post makes me so happy. Thank you! when I was growing up, kids from “down the bayou” had to be taught English as a second language.
Yesss many people down the river have to learn English to interact with other parishes. I myself grew up knowing Spanish and English since I grew up north LA but many times it's hard to conversate with other ppl from different parishes. Each parish has a different dialect
I was about to say the same thing about Chauvin! My girlfriend is from Florida and she finds it amusing that I can clock someone as being from Louisiana just from their last name in many cases
Ouin, de ton nom je le savais que t'es de la-bas! Je viens d'un pays qui est a nord de vous autres, mais je ne vais pas le nommer. Are you able to understand that at all? I'm really curious!
Right!? I honestly teared up. This is how I feel about German/Texas German. When you hear that sound it can be so powerful. You feel like you’re with family even if they’re strangers. So many Europeans don’t really understand and can even get offended if you say “I’m Texas German” or something like that.
I think one of the forgotten tragedies of WWI was Woodrow Wilson’s campaign against anyone not speaking English. We lost immeasurable amounts of beautiful culture when we killed off our separate languages. Every one at least speak English? Ok. But I hope we learn from our mistake and push to have people speak the language of their heritage too.
About 6 year's ago. I was working for a lady and she spoke to her son in Polish and what she said took me back to when I was a boy talking to my grandmother in the living room. She spoke Russian but it was close enough to trigger it. Моя бабушка. Я лобет те.
Loved that cook/waiter who was saying “I don’t speak much French” and then he just started talking up a storm in his awesome southern/cajun/creole French accent. So cool.
This is the side of America that I love...humble and appreciation for everyone's roots and culture. I don't care if we're talking white black or brown but everywhere I look in the world most poor people tend to be kind hearted
litterally this is America, the shit you see on the news is extreme and rare or in crime ridden areas. The rest of the country is just good people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds
The shit that’s going on lately - that crowd that’s angry about everything - thinks that everyone should speak English and all other languages shouldn’t be spoken because of ultranationalist beliefs. They don’t take into account these languages were here before we were actually a country
"We ate all of the food, already Y'all can go home". I lived in Japan for 6 years, and returning home made me really appreciate this sort of light banter that you find in America. The ability to crack a joke to a complete stranger and have a full conversation having never met, then get invited to their weekly shindig. So awesome! I certainly took it for granted for many years.
I am a 47 yo french canadian from Quebec and I understood 100% of your conversations and this whole process moved me. The resilience of the french speaking is touching and its perenniality is challenged everywhere in the world. Thank you for shedding some light on it. Merci du fond du coeur.
You should come down here for our Festival de Louisiane if you ever get the chance. It's a week long festival in Lafayette LA where we bring bands and artists etc from all of the French speaking areas of the world together. It's SO FUN and the food is delicious!!! It's usually around the last week in April, so it's not too hot yet. 😊
@@TheJuliousnessBonsoir, je suis le jeune parisien dont vous parlez et je ne peux qu’approuver ! Merci pour ces beaux mots c’est plus que nécessaire en ce moment, bonne soirée !
@@jungkais2737 tout d’abord, enchanté! 😁 c’est évident pas probable que la France se mette à parler anglais un jour, mais la déclinaison de la qualité du français est réelle et même aujourd’hui. Merci pour votre commentaire! 👏🏻
As a 50y/o native of Louisiana and a family rich in cajun heritage, thank you very much f9r this video, Sadly the cajun language in our family started to dwidle with my grandmother's passing. I try to speak as much as I can but as you know, its only spoken in small, rural communities now and our state is absolutely horrible at teaching and keeping our language alive. Like many languages throughout history, it's up to people to keep their heritage alive. You do one hell of a job promting that, it's extremely admirable. Thanks again for all you do,
please keep using it, my family stopped speaking polish and after that we lost most of our culture. I don't want the same thing happening to you. bonne chance a vous!
I live a couple of states over and know a Cajun guy. Just making the effort ask about the culture or just learning one or two phrases will go a long way with them.
@@BRANNANvaughtas with any culture. Something as simple as words & food bring us closer together and break down barriers that we put up. Truly shows how human & alike we are. The smile is universal communication. Americans don’t realize how many other people learn 2-3 languages before even picking up English. Wish they had made that standard in grade school.
@@Andrew-qm5im its not that hard to lose a little chub bros, he looks way healthier and hes not that big of a guy so it wouldnt take that much time/effort
the server in the restaurant "my french is not good", proceeds to flawlessly explain the menu in french! hahaha such a humble man! ton français est super bon, Y'as pas de probleme icitte mon ami!
I appreciate that you made a distinction between Cajun and Creole. A lot of people make the mistake of lumping them together and using the terms synonymously. While there’s some degree of overlap, they’re each a separate thing that developed independently from each other and gave their own unique traits and history.
That's how I feel too! I screamed at my husband that he was in The Pig (what we call the grocery store Piggly Wiggly) and Chicken On the Bayou!!! Both 5 minutes from my house!
I havent heard anyone mention a piggly wiggly in years! I worked at one in Old Hickory, TN. When i tell people about it they look at me so confused lol.@aimee6420
As a Louisiana native and also someone of whom lost my Creole culture and tongue, Id like to say thank you for showing the world just a peak of what it was like here once. 😢 I miss tjose days
Honey, a "peak" is the top of a mountain. A quick look is a "peek". (Just helping you a little with your l'Anglais, since your native tongue is Creole French.)
I like how respectful the elders were when speaking Creole with you. Even though it took you a little second to get your words right they listened intently and were happy to help you learn more and were generally just so happy to see a younger person learn the language they so deeply care for. I think that's really sweet
😭😭😭😭😭 The first elderly man who interacted with Xiaoma made me so happy. This is what growing up in a small town is like a lot of the times. You're just walking or standing around minding your own business and some old guy comes up to you just to make a joke and start conversations. "We ate it all, there's no more" was such a warm familial joke. The kind you fake laugh at because they're laughing so genuinely at their own joke you can't help but join in.
Go to Kinder, Louisiana, where we speak Coushatta. That is the language of my people, the Coushatta Tribe, or Koasati in my language. Unfortunately, it’s a dying language. Only some elders still speak it. My grandparents spoke the language, but they never taught my mother. Tribal members made a dictionary in the 1980s, and we have an online dictionary on our website. I am trying to learn to be a vessel for our culture. If you have time, you can visit our tribe. Our nice hotel displays our history and handmade pine needle baskets. Being american I hope you can also show some love to the beautiful Indigenous people and culture of this land.
I grew up in Oakdale but moved to Lake Charles after I graduated. I pass through Kinder bi weekly to go visit my family, even worked at the casino a long time ago!
I THINK he may have done a video in which he speaks Coushatta. Try checking his list of videos over the past year or two. I could be wrong but the language name seems to be ringing a bell in the dim recesses of my brain….
Xiao casually doing what people struggle with. New Languages? In the bag. World Travel? Part of the routine. Weight Loss? Dedication paying off. Keep inspiring, Xiao!
That Creole table was a really beautiful moment. I like how they were all connecting with their heritage to honor and remember their families like that. It really warmed my heart. ❤
Work hard and Party hard. I'm not Cajun but most of my cousins are. I try to make the trek home to Louisiana at the end of every February, though I usually try to wait till after Mardi Gras, because travel is cheaper. I go because there are like 6 or 7 birthdays in the family in 2 weeks and there's usually a BIIIIG crawfish boil around that time. 2025 Mardi Gras will be in early March so I might still be there but I'll be far enough out in the woods. I'll probably only be able to hear the Banjos 🤣
Haha, I actually cried listening cause I miss Louisiana and the south so much. I'm really glad you highlighted this. People don't know enough about Louisiana and its culture.
But this is social media. And we're only exposed to it because of the internet. These interactions can be uplifting and inspiring for millions of people who will never be able to travel to this part of the world. Social media isn't the problem. The elite want you to think the problem is us talking to each other online. They want us to abandon the ability to communicate with each other in unrestricted ways. Don't fall for it.
@chrisquiett1776 Just like anything, Social Media is only as unhealthy as you make it. Especially nowadays! Because of a little thing called algorithms, you get fed what you wish to consume. In other words... You will find what you're lookin for without even realizing your looking for it. A good trick to find out where your head really is, is to pay attention to what pops up in your "feed". Your FYP is only based off of what you show interest in by clicking on it or searching for it. And that goes for everything! Facebook, TikTok, RU-vid, Netflix, Hulu... literally everything! Social media is like a drug that's alive and chasing those who aren't careful. You can take control back by being intentional about what you consume.
@tux1968 RU-vid isn't really "social media" though. It's a video sharing/ entertainment platform. At least it was thought of as that before all the social media came out, except maybe Facebook. It's been turned more into a social media, but I think it's still a different category than Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Social media goes both ways. Yes people are lovely and that can be shown in social media but people are very terrible as well and social media is good for that
These sort of videos really make me smile, when all we hear is how divided our country is, but then you go out and meet people and see how kind and unified we can be
The surname LaGrange is a French Creole surname. French Creoles are white Louisianians of French and/or Québécois heritage. Not to be confused with non-white Creoles such as Creoles of Color (mixed race) or Afro Creoles. There are other white Creoles too like Spanish Creoles (Isleños, Malagueños in Louisiana), German Creoles (with surnames such as Folse, Trosclair, Haydel, Toups etc) and even the real Cajuns (Louisiana Acadians) were called Acadian Creoles before the term Cajun spread in the 1960’s-1970’s (and subsequently adopted by many non-Acadians today, it’s a long story). The early settlers of colonial Louisiana were from France and Québec. But there’s an additive to your surname. Although it was a colonial Louisiana surname, it was from Mobile. The coastal areas of Mississippi and Alabama was once part of the Louisiana colony and had French Creole populations. When the British invaded Mobile, most of the French Creoles fled to south Louisiana and you’re a descendant of them.
As a Louisiana Creole(this includes cajun people) person seeing this pop up on my notification has made me so happy, our French program here for school sucks. Instead of teaching us our local French, they teach us standard French, and call it proper French, implying that Louisiana Creole and Louisiana French are improper to speak! I’m so happy that you’re talking about this. Thank you so much, for bringing awareness to my culture Some other fun facts for y’all The Louisiana government made it illegal to speak Louisiana French in public and school alongside Louisiana creole, because of the Americanization and being forced to speak English, we developed our own vernacular dialect(CajVE) of English called Cajun English, it actually has a lot of things similar to what is called Ebonics or African-American English(AAVE). That’s why you will see a lot of the older generations being able to speak French, but not the younger generations as it was considered, shameful to teach your children in French
Salut! En tant que français, je trouve aussi cela dommage. Nous perdons toute pluralité et diversité. En métropole aussi, les langues régionales, les patois se perdent... Pire encore , les jeunes ne parlent plus correctement le français , ils s'en fichent totalement. La régression culturelle est mondiale et je suis persuadé que c'est voulu par les élites dirigeantes. Les analphabètes sont une aubaine pour la manipulation de masse. Bon courage et bonne continuation.
European French are the one culture I know of that won't accept that dialects exist (I am from Quebec). Its very strange compared to the general acceptance of different forms of English. For instance Americans wouldn't say that Jamaicans speak english incorrectly lol, its a different form of the language. Though French people do this for any other form of the language.
My grandmother was old enough to see her native language banned by the school. Very sad, and it made her so ashamed of it that she didn’t pass on the French to her kids. That side of the family has been in Cajun Country since their expulsion from Nova Scotia, too.
@@RU-vidhandle579yep, as I’m not fully fluent, kind of like the people in the video I understand more than I can speak. I have had mixed and varying results on the times I have speaking the bit of French I’ve known to other people, including French Europeans. Honestly, I’ve had a lot of better reactions from people from North America and Africa then I have from European. Also fun fact due to the language being banned(it was made illegal to be taught in schools and spoken in public, and this only ended in the 70s) because of this us, Cajun and Creole people developed our own vernacular form of English that has a lot of similarities to Ebonics or African-American vernacular English
@@the_rachel_sam I have a very similar situation, my family is from Opelousas, so depending who you ask it is or is it in Acadiana but you know most people do say it is. I’m Gen Z, so my mawmaw(my great grandmother) had taught me some when I was young but always encourage me only to speak it with my family, anyways she ended up developing Alzheimer’s and never fully taught me yet nor did she teach my grandparents or my father out of shame. I’m legitimately still mad and upset that our language was banned, there’s a certain level of sadness that I have not been able to put a word to it
As a french guy this is very interesting to see and hear , i can understand the sentences but only with help of the subtitles ...without , its just words or part of sentences Great vid!
that is how cajun french is. French without any grammer almost. I am from louisiana grew up in French immersion, we had teachers from france, belgium, even canada. We were taught proper french and I can barely speak with the cajuns who speak cajun french.
@@jacobeccles5127It’s actually not Cajun French, it’s officially called Louisiana French. Reason being, it’s not a dialect from Acadie, it’s a mixed dialect formed from various dialects across the French speaking world such as from France, Québec, Acadie and the French Caribbean. There’s also borrowed words from Spaniards, Latin America, the Spanish Caribbean, Native Americans and West Africans. It’s a gumbo of a French dialect, absolutely not Acadian.
i don't ever say things like this, but i'm sure this channel is one of the most important things on the internet. i really hope he keeps this going for the long run. imagine where this will be in ten years.
The word "Cajun" is a bastardization of the word "Acadian". The Acadians were French speaking settlers in what is now Maritime Canada. They were forcefully expelled from Canada during the Seven Years War (1754-1763) because of their French heritage. Over 11,000 were expelled and resettled in Louisiana.
Louisiana folks, what a beautiful community of people you have, i loved seeing servers sit down to take orders, and that it was just one big conversation everyone joined. I felt such a longing to belong there. ❤
My grandpa, rest him, much like the older gent you spoke to last (in the grey shirt) couldn't speak a lick of English until he was taught how in school. The older cook that spoke to you about the menu reminded me of him when he spoke and it brought me to tears. I sadly don't speak Creole or Cajun, though most of my older family members did, and this journey had me nodding and laughing the whole time. (Born Louisianian, currently living in Ohio) Thanks so much for this, Ari - I hope to see more on your trip there and hope you very much enjoyed yourself. Us Lousianians are a .. special breed of people. :D
My wife and I live in Mallet Louisiana which is a small community located between Lawtell La and Eunice La. Our ancestors came here around 300 years ago. We both have family records dating back to the 1700’s. Everyone around here speaks Creole French in fact my wife’s grandparents only spoke Creole French. My dad’s first language is Creole French. We are Creole and Proud.
None of you will remember her... But Ma Brown is smiling hearing y'all. She always said the true language of New Orleans was creole and she asked her family to speak it. She made the most delicious pumpkin pie with roasted marshmallow topping, and pecan pie. She's been in heaven for at least 47 years, but I can still remember her vividly. I was lucky to have met her, bless her soul.
I'm American, but have lived half of my life in France, and I teach a class here about Franco-American Relations. I will try to use this in my course the next time, because we do discuss Missouri (Paw Paw) French and the Grand Dérangement which led to Créole/Cajun French in Louisiana. Merci beaucoup, for continually challenging yourself to learn new languages, which, via your channel, helps keep many that are in danger of disappearing, alive.
As being someone from Southern Louisiana that heard Creole French all my life was great seeing you go around everywhere and speak it with others. Thank you loved this! Wish I could have caught you while you were here.
Many French-speaking Acadians in what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were displaced by the British and deported to the region in the 1700's. These Acadians became known as "Cajuns". Many Acadian families were allowed to remain if they pledged loyalty to the British crown, and their culture is still alive in Atlantic Canada.
It’s more complicated than that. Only around 3,000 Acadians arrived in Louisiana at a time when there were 50,000 French origin people in Louisiana (ancestry from France) and many others with ancestry from Québec, from the French Caribbean and Spanish Caribbean (Whites, blacks and mixed race types from those parts of the Caribbean) as well as German origin folks, Spanish origin folks (mainly from the Canary Islands of Spain and southern Spain around Málaga). All of these peoples intermarried to some extent here and there and many people that claim to be Acadians in Louisiana are of mixed white ancestry. Also, some folks that were not Acadians at all adopted the Cajun identify when it spread in the 1960’s-1970’s. You got people today with surnames that came to Louisiana from France and Québec before the arrival of Acadians to Louisiana calling themselves Cajuns, people with Spanish or German surnames calling themselves Cajun etc. Cajuns today are not Acadians, that’s for sure. I’m from south Louisiana. The traditional name for all of these Louisiana whites is Creole. Creole means “non-indigenous native of any race”. It also means local. So local food, local culture, local music. The whole Cajun thing is a recent phenomenon spread in the 1960’s-1970’s. Before the term Cajun was created, real Cajuns were called Acadian Creoles.
It’s all just Creole. The culture, the cuisine, the people, regardless of race. Cajuns are white Louisiana Creoles. There are several white Louisiana Creole groups like French Creoles, Spanish Creoles, German Creoles and Acadian Creoles (those with predominant Acadian heritage). Many of these have mixed with each other today and possess multiple ancestries. Likewise, there are also a few non-white Creole groups like Creoles of Color (Euro/black mixed race), Métis Créole (Euro/Amerind mixed race), Afro-Creoles (black) and Filipino Creoles (their ancestors arrived to Louisiana aboard Spanish galleon ships in the 1700’s).
@@deekelley891whole time watching and reading these comments i was wondering why it wasn’t being mandated in schools! glad to hear it is hopefully it keeps the language and culture alive
@@broidk8291 because it's useless lol. sure it's a cool language, but it is completely useless for everyday life and will probably never come in handy.
I'm from southwest Louisiana and I remember my grandparents speaking cajun french. They mostly spoke it when they didn't want us to know what they were talking about. I never learned french, except for a few sayings and cuss words. I wish I had learned. It makes me sad that we are loosing that part of our culture and that my children will likely never get to hear many people talk in cajun french. Thanks for coming to south Louisiana and making this video. It reminds me of my grandparents.
Fantastic video ! As a French I found it pretty interesting to hear this kind of Creole French. I knew French was spoken there but I’ve never heard it before now. Merci !
@@LoneStarRay globally yes, I understood the conversation. Only the Cajun French part was more difficult for me to understand, the subtitles helped me here.
I went on a French immersion trip with school that was based out of Jausier in the Alps, but the city of Arnaudville was the gateway city. The people that live there and around Breaux Bridge are important to the long life that I firmly believe Cajun and Creole will continue to have as languages. The Ubaye Valley program doesn’t teach Cajun French, but rather that even in France there are patois and dialects. The people of South Louisiana are its protectors, me included. The native Louisiana tribes need the same love and tender care for their languages, now more than ever. This is an awesome video that scratches a facetious and hard-hitting topic. Thank you as always Xiaoma 💕
No such thing as Cajun food. Acadians integrated into Louisiana when they arrived, adopted the cuisine and culture of Louisiana and added to it like everyone else did. In the Louisiana colony, there was no such thing as a Cajun. There were only Creoles and Native Americans. Creoles being the non-indigenous population of any race including whites, blacks, mixed race people and Filipinos. Creole also came to signify the meaning of local. As in local food, local culture, local people, local produce, local products, local livestock etc. thus, the traditional name of Louisiana’s traditional local cuisine and culture that is rooted in it’s colonial past is called Creole. Louisiana’s non-indigenous peoples of any race are Creoles. Its cuisine is Creole. It’s music is Creole. The Louisiana born children of the Acadian settlers were not called Cajuns in the Louisiana colony, they were called Creoles. Acadian Creoles to be exact. Cajun is a term that was once a derogatory term akin to poor Acadian redneck. But some folks decided to flip it into an identity and it spread in the 1960’s-1970’s among mixed origin peoples. It’s a recent phenomenon. Attaching Cajun to everything these days is a plague on Louisiana’s culture, cuisine and identity. Not even Cajuns today are actual Acadians, but are mixed origin peoples with ancestry from all over France and the colonial French empire and many even have Spanish, German, English/Irish and/or Italian admixture. This is evidenced by surnames, immigration records and family trees. It’s time folks face these facts. Look at the foods of Acadie, it doesn’t resemble south Louisiana cuisine. Yet we can find foods in France, Spain, the French and Spanish Caribbean, Latin America, Native America and Africa that resemble south Louisiana’s cuisine. Why? Because our cuisine is a mix of all these influences. No such thing as Cajun food.
As a German, I've unfortunately never been able to try it (yet), but anytime I see it anywhere, it looks sooo good. Really hope to get my hands on authentic Cajun food at some point.
Didn’t even know it was the camera that was doing that 😂 I just thought it was cuz he got closer I said to myself damn that guys appearance is strange one lol
I've watched a lot of videos like this from different youtubers and the thing that strikes me the most is just how much friendlier people become when you learn their language and try to speak it. It's such an easy way to break the ice and it just brightens up their day. I love these videos.
He's not though. He learns what he needs in the moment. Five yrs from now he won't be able to just sit and converse freely in any language he's "speaking" now. It won't stick
@@XxSeeTrebbssxXpoint is, he’s not linguistically gifted, at least not more than you. Don’t be discouraged, anyone can learn a language to broken conversational level with a few months if you try. Give it a shot and you won’t regret it
Now that's America! After watching too much news your videos always remind me what people are really like. All over the world most people are kind and accepting. ❤️
As a Canadian, many of us are used to some sort of "Frenglish" depending on where we live. That said, much of that Creale was comprehensible. Been loving your content for years now! Keep up the linguistic adventures!
Im from opelousas and work in Cecilia. So good to see South Louisiana culture shown in a positive light. Thanks for coming down and experience our culture.
Someone came to my school halfway through this past year who only spoke French creole. Everyone was very curious about it since we’d never heard of it before and many people used google translate to try to speak to him haha I’m glad to know more about this language! Sad to hear it’s endangered
As someone from Louisiana it’s beautiful to see other people get to experience our deep culture and be able to spread it to others thank you for makin dis video, Merci du fond du coeur
The man in the Creole Table, defending the right to speak the language, is absolutely right! There is no law that can demand a common language, and if someone tried to pass one, our Constitutional rights are protected from interference, and that ties directly to culture and language. God Bless! Sliánte!
Woodrow Wilson did this in WWI. On my family’s case it killed off the Texas German dialect. That’s why you hear all these people talk about their grandparents. Those that learned as a native tongue were the last between WWI and WWII.
As a french quebecer this is incredibly interesting to hear! Technically we are both connected from the french of the french colonists but it changed a lot over time. Enough to understand most of it but still unique and full of each other’s culture and history 😊
Don’t know if you know this or not, but the early settlers of Louisiana were primarily from France and Québec. The two intermarried over time and became known as “French Creoles”. Many people in Louisiana are of Québécois heritage, even many people that identify as Cajun. Here’s a list of surnames in Louisiana that are of Québécois origin: Carriere Lavergne Devillier Autin Barré Normand Dupré Vasseur Bienvenue Langlois Deshotels/Desautels Rozat Couvillon Gaspard St. Romain Major Verret Chauvin Rodrigue Ledoux St. Pierre Lemieux Dufrene (Dufresne) Badeaux Beaulieu Fournier Primeaux Dupont DeRouen Bouchard Robillard Morvant LeFebre Fournier Bellanger Dubuisson Marcotte Francois Joffrion Legnon Thibaut Guillory Trepagnier Lafleur Chenet Rivard Ardoin Courville Hulin Beauvais LaCasse And many more! I just named a few, there are many, many more I have not listed. Millions of Louisianians are blood related to the people of Québec, even people that identify as Cajuns (most Cajuns are a mixture of different white French-origin groups from various places, in which Québécois were one of them).
@@IslenoGutierrez In my younger years, I worked for a fabrication company that built offshore drilling rigs and platforms. A lot of the people I worked with there in South Texas were Cajuns. There’s about 6-7 last names on your list that are the same as some of the people I worked with over the years. The majority of the people that worked there were Hispanic and spoke Spanish and English. I could follow along a little bit but got lost when they talked fast. It was always funny when two old school Cajuns would speak creole in front of the Hispanic guys. They’d get confused because they couldn’t understand them. I had a couple of Hispanic guys that I was working with one day and they spoke Spanish in front of me all day. At one point, these two Cajuns rolled up on us and were speaking creole to one another. One of the Hispanic guys asked me wtf are they saying, I can’t understand them. I laughed and told them it was creole. He said wtf is that? I said Cajun French. Old boy got mad and said that’s bullshit and that they should be speaking English in front of him. I laughed and said are you ef’ing kidding me, you guys have been speaking Spanish in front of me all day. I told him how do you like not being able to understand their conversation. He said it’s bullshit. I laughed and said well now you know how I feel. So for the rest of the day, those two guys spoke English in front of me. 😂
@@richardfalor Good story and quite an experience! There’s some characters offshore, that’s for sure. Regarding the surnames I’ve listed here, that’s a tiny fraction of what I have in my files. I have whole lists of surnames from Cajun identified people and only a fraction of them are Acadian surnames. You see, the traditional identity in south Louisiana used to be Creole, but it was for all Louisianians of any race (except Native Americans, there’s historic reason for this) because Creole means “non-indigenous native-born local person of any race”. This was it’s definition for all of colonial Louisiana and from colonial Louisiana we were passed this term. So the term applied/applies to our south Louisiana and Nachitoches peoples, our food cuisine, our culture, our music etc. But during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, a small group of people of Acadian ancestry took an old insult made to belittle real Cajuns (Louisiana Acadians) in the late 19th/early 20th century as poor backwards Acadian rednecks that was converted to a positive identity several decades before the civil rights era (kinda like how blacks did with the N word), and this small group gained political power and influence in southwest Louisiana and was able to ride the back of the civil rights movement as “victims of English speakers oppressing French speakers in Louisiana by oppressing the French language in Louisiana”. They called themselves Cajuns. This movement grew and grew and started becoming popular in southwest Louisiana whereas even people not of Acadian descent (mostly those of descent direct from France and Québec, but some from other places) started switching identities from Creole to Cajun. And although Louisiana born-Acadians (actual Cajuns) and their descendants were still Louisiana Creoles (just white ones), they started rejecting the identity and the Cajun craze took off. People were becoming Cajuns my the masses in southwest Louisiana. Then the media got hold of it and blasted it all over the nation. Then Chef Paul Prudhomme became famous for his south Louisiana cooking in the 1980’s and he identified as one of these newly minted Cajuns just 1-2 decades before (most of his ancestry is not even Acadian however and neither is his last name) and his fame propelled Louisiana food which has historically been known as Creole in identity, to become Cajun in identity in the minds of people across the U.S. (and even in the minds of Cajun identified people). And because traditionally in the U.S., Louisiana and Louisianians are associated with New Orleans in the minds of people in most U.S. states, many people out of state often would put the words Cajun and New Orleans in the same sentence as in “I’m going to New Orleans to experience the Cajun culture” when New Orleans is in southeast Louisiana, a region historically not associated with Cajun anything. New Orleans has Creole culture, just like Southwest Louisiana, it just doesn’t identify it as Cajun because the Cajun spread didn’t make it to New Orleans mostly. Common foods that are often classed as Cajun like gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, courtbouillon, fricasée, sauce piquante, boiled crawfish/crabs/shrimp, stuffed mirliton, meat pies, dirty rice/rice dressing, corn maque choux, andouille, tasso and many more were not even invented by Acadians. There’s no such thing as Cajun food in this day and age. Acadians arrived here to Louisiana in the 18th century, adopted the local foods and culture and chipped in on it like everyone else did. Compare the food of south Louisiana to the food in eastern French Canada from which the Acadians came, it’s completely different. Or even recognizable. South Louisiana foods resemble more the foods of France, Spain, West Africa, the French and Spanish Caribbean, Latin America and Native America. It’s really just Louisiana Creole food and everyone that settled South Louisiana and Nachitoches, whether they were white, black, mixed race or Native American, contributed to the creation of all our foods, culture, history, language and dialects. Sorry for the long comment, but I always have a lot to contribute.
@@IslenoGutierrez my man, thank you for all of the info. What a history lesson. I worked hard in my younger days. Outside, in the heat, in the rain and in the cold. 10-12 hours a day, day in and day out and year after year. I always looked forward to our Christmas break. A superintendent, where I worked, usually had 2-3 Leadman under him that ran crews. So on our last day before Xmas break, we would do a potluck lunch. The guys that were born and raised in Louisiana always brought the best food. My favorite was the hog head cheese. Some of the last names of guys I worked with were Naquin, Breaux, Revere, Rodrigue, Dupre, Verette, Morvant, Duhon, Guillot, Mouton, Trahan, Blanchard and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. There were other guys I worked with from Louisiana that didn’t have accents. But all the names I listed, those guys had heavy “Cajun” accents. I miss those days but that was hard work and it’s for the younger guys out there.
Unfortunately that happens a lot. Its wild how many disenfranchised populations in the south randomly start yelling about communism which is no where affecting the USA lol
I am from Mauritius island located in the Indian Ocean on the East (correction I mentioned West before) of Africa. We speak French creole here and it sounds alike, awesome!! Mo bien content, merci!! I love all your videos! 🤘😃
laissez le bon temps rouler!!! ... thank you for going to Louisiana! our grandparent's generation had the French beat out of them. there was also stable dialects of Louisiana Spanish until the 60s
@@Dragoncam13Isleño Spanish will die out in a generation or two. Unlike the French language in Louisiana, there is no preservation efforts to revive the language among young isleños and only the elderly and some middle aged people speak it fluently. I can speak a good amount of it, because it was passed to me unlike most. But there are not enough speakers for one and it’s no longer being passed on. Similar to what’s happening to Louisiana French but, in a more dire condition. Much like Louisiana Creole is, but even worse. Isleños will wound up like Italian-Americans in the future, knowing just words or phrases only.
I'm from Quebec and it's funny because I understand almost everything they say because of how similar it sounds to our french Canadian accent here in Quebec! Especially Cajun but Creole too. This video was sooo interesting! I'm pretty sure I could go there and understand them so well and feel at home hahaha it's crazy! And it's nice that you talked about it at 18:56 (some French Canadians moved to Louisiana in the 18th centry)
My dad is Cajun and was never taught Cajun French. He's 76 and still wishes he had been able to pass that down to me and my sister. Great to see you down here appreciating the culture.
It’s officially called Louisiana French because it’s a mix of several different dialects of French from France and from all over the ex-French empire also with borrowed words from Spaniards, Latin America, the French and Spanish Caribbean, Native Americans and West Africa. It’s a gumbo of a dialect. Same like the food, same like the culture. It’s traditionally called Creole. Cajuns were called Creoles before the spread of the term in the 1960’s-1970’s. Creole in the Louisiana colony meant “non-indigenous native of any race”. Our food cuisine, culture and music is traditionally called Creole.
@@IslenoGutierrez locals would fight all day with you for what you just said 😆. They don’t understand all Cajuns are creoles but not all creoles are Cajun. They have a very terrible view that creoles are black and Cajuns are white people. It went from where you were born to being about race somehow 😕.
@@zethloveless7238 This may be long, but please bear with me. There’s lots of good stuff here, I promise: I agree with you 100%. They believe in lunacy. But lucky for us we have documented evidence over hundreds of years in Louisiana even going back as far as colonial Louisiana to support our belief in who and what is Creole. Nowhere in history does it support their belief that Creoles are mixed race or black only and that Cajuns (white) are not Creoles. Creole is not race or ancestry based. Documented evidence shows the exact OPPOSITE of what they believe, that Creoles are the non-indigenous native local population of any race. This was its exact definition during all of colonial Louisiana and that’s where we get the word from in modern Louisiana, it’s a direct passing of the torch from colonial Louisiana. There are still whites that claim a creole identity in the Greater New Orleans area and in the northern Acadiana parishes of Avoyelles, Evangeline, St. Landry and Pointe Coupee. I’m one of them and I know plenty of them. There are even multiple famous white Creole historic figures one can look up such as these French Creoles: Étienne de Boré Alcée Fortier Bernard de Marigny Charles Gayarré Micaela Almonester PGT Beauregard Rene Beauregard Kate Chopin Jacques Villeré FP Poché Louis E. Rabouin Jacques Dupré Alexandre Mouton Andre Bienvenu Roman Alfred Mercier Adrien Rouquette And many, many more! Then there is the fact that Cajuns are not Acadians. Some have significant Acadian ancestry and some have very little and some have none at all. Look at the family tree of famous Cajun identified politician Edwin Edwards, 98% came from France and Québec and their descendants and Edwards is an English surname. Same with Cajun identified Paul Prudhomme, most of his tree is filled with people from France and Québec and their descendants just like Edwards and the surname Prudhomme came from France to Louisiana and was in Louisiana before the Acadians arrived. There are more non-Acadian surnames among Cajun-identified people today than there are Acadians surnames. If you’d like to see, I have whole surname lists of where certain surnames came from and which ethnic group. Deep research. Places like France, Québec, the French Caribbean, Switzerland, Belgium, the Spanish Caribbean, Spain, Germany, Italy, other states in the U.S. and the British Isles including Ireland. Just ask and I’ll post lists. Look at many famous Cajun identified figures: Chef Justin Wilson, Chef John Folse, Chef Isaac Toups, Dennis McGhee, Dewey Balfa, Nathan Abshire, Amanda Shaw, Kathleen Blanco, James Carville, Jake Delhomme, Wayne Toups, Doug Kershaw, Harry Choates, George Rodrigue, Joe Falcon etc. none of these people have Acadian last names. Cajun identified people are not Acadians, but are a mixed origin white Louisiana Creole group with a predominantly French heritage (no matter where in the French empire it came from). Only about 3,000 Acadians arrived in Louisiana total. Just to give an idea of how small that is, there were in the same span 50,000 French origin people in Louisiana whose ancestors came from France or from Québec (most early settlers were from France and Québec and over time many intermarried. But most came direct to Louisiana from France or Québec, but some came from those places first but via the French Mobile migration or the French Illinois migration of the time that had those populations and were in French territory at the time). And also, about the same number of Acadians came as Spaniards did (most were isleños and malagueños, with a small number of other Spaniards), yet there are way more people claiming to be Cajun (Acadian) today than Spanish. Way more. Also, about a similar number of white St. Domingans came to Louisiana as Acadians (St. Domingue was the name of French colonial Haiti before the Haitian Revolution and being renamed Haiti. It had a significant white community which most fled the colony and many fled to Louisiana to escape the Haitian Revolution). Yet you hear ZERO about them or their descendants or anyone white claiming St. Domingue or Haiti. Yet you got hundreds of thousands of people claiming to be Cajuns (Acadians) with that same tired story about Nova Scotia and Le Grand Dérangement with last names like Mayeux (France), Fuselier (France), Ardoin (Québec) Dufrene (Québec), Michot (St. Domingue), Domengeaux (St. Domingue), Trosclair (Germany), Folse (Germany), Toups (German Switzerland), Loup (German Switzerland), Guidroz (French Switzerland), Deville (French Switzerland), Romero (Spain), Barrios (Spain), Bermudez (Cuba), Thibaut (Martinique), Carmadelle (Italy), Donato (Italy), McGhee (Irish), Smith (England) etc. It’s crazy. You got Cajuns labeling dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, courtbouillon, red beans and rice, stuffed mirliton, sauce piquante, corn maque choux, dirty rice/rice dressing, boiled crawfish/crabs/shrimp, fricasée, andouille, tasso and so many more dishes and food items as Cajun, or how about this: “Certified Cajun”, I know you’ve seen it on packaging, but it’s ridiculous to claim as such as Acadians didn’t invent any of these foods. It’s ridiculous to label them Cajun. They are Creole. Everyone in south Louisiana put in on these dishes, whites, blacks, mixed race peoples and even Native Americans. That’s our cuisine, the Creole cuisine but with regional differences (Greater New Orleans vs Acadiana vs Nachitoches). And it’s a fact that the term Cajun/Cadien was used historically as an insult toward Acadians and their descendants being the slur was meant as the equivalent of a poor backwards Acadian redneck. Calling a Cajun (Acadian) a Cajun was once fighting words. There’s historic documentation of this too. But a small group of real Acadian descendants decided to turn it into an identity and it spread to Acadians and non-Acadians in Acadiana like wildfire since the 1960’s-1970’s. Even the name Acadiana is a slap in the face to all peoples of the region that are not of Acadian ancestry, especially those whose families were in the region before the Acadians arrived. I got so much to tell, I could fill a book.
@@IslenoGutierrez man it seems like me and you have been saying the same thing for many years but people today don’t listen and will want to fight or throw a fit. I wish I were joking but when I try to explain in depth how most of them are not even Cajun they get very mad. I try to promote labeling the food as Louisiana Cuisine more than just a Cajun or Creole food as it just eliminates the perceived divide by some people. Myself I’m just a Duplantis on my mother’s side. Born in Lafayette and raised in New Iberia. My grandparents never really spoke English. You seem to be really on your toes and well versed in this my brother ☺️. I teach people only the little I know but this piece you wrote opened me up to even more knowledge and I’m forever greatful. 🤟🏻
My family, specifically my grandparents on my mother’s side come from a Spanish speaking country but watching this video really shows how language can be a beautiful yet simple way to reconnect to a people’s heritage and traditions.
Omg I’m from South Louisiana and I’m so happy you put a spot light on our dying language !!! There has been a resurgence the last few years with the state wanting people to learn the language
It is absolutely crazy seeing Xiaoma in my hometown! I grew up in Cecilia and am one of the few in the younger generation that still speaks cajun french. So happy you had a great time in our little town!!!
My grandparents are Cajun (from Lafayette Parish) only spoke French as children. Their history is different than the Creole the young man described. My cousin ran the cultural center until she retired. There were several families of Cajun people that left France to Halifax NS area back in the day. My family was one of these families. They set up a new life but after they refused to bow to the British crown they were forced onto ships. There's a log of all the families belogings taken still in Halifax today. The group went back to France then years later came to Louisiana. Some France folks decided to join the Acadians in the journey. Spain allowed them to work the land since they owned Louisiana at the time. A local attorney was actually successful in getting the British Queen to issue an apology for what happened back in the day to the Acadian people. It was front page news. Just thought I'd share some info on that Cajun French region.
There were actually over 150 separate families that settled Acadia (present day Nova Scotia), starting around 1604. They weren’t Cajun from the start, French first (with a few non French in the mix), then after a couple generations in Acadia, they began to self identify as Acadians. After the exile, the ones who came to Louisiana still thought of themselves as Acadians, which over time became Cajun, a bastardized version of the French pronunciation of Acadian.
Just wanted to share that my family is one of these families, and we were imprisoned in halifax in 1755 instead of deported, to teach the english how to farm the coasts with dyke systems. We then escaped, migrated to new brunswick, fought the english in one of the last stands against them at the battle of ristigouche, and we were able to stay in that part of the country until my grandfather's generation. We have lots of family from the east to west coast of canada from that line.
so we are canadian acadians. There are hundreds of thousands of us in Canada who are passionate about our acadian history. As far as I'm concerned I am more acadian than canadian. Hello my cajun cousin! Take care
I learned French as a second language here in the states but the majority of my practice speaking has been with Haitians and Africans. I understood almost everything perfectly! I live in Texas now so it’s time I planned the road trip and got me some cracklins 🤤
The shock I had when I noticed you were in my hometown was crazy. I took French-immersion all the way to 7th grade and was around a lot of Cajun French family/friends. Your Cajun French was solid man, love your work!
I'm so glad that you decided to come to Louisiana! I am from the Pacific Northwest originally. I am of French Canadian descent. I moved to Louisiana almost 18 years ago chasing a woman. The tight culture in this state holds a dear place in my heart. One thing an old Cajun once told me is that you'll never meet a stranger in Louisiana.
Dude this video really made me want to learn the language of my family. I've been trying on and off for years. Thanks for the inspiration and keep it up!!
Oh Ari, this is awesome….I always love your videos, but this one is very special. The south, in general, just has a different way of talking. I am from South Georgia, raised in North Florida and living in South Alabama for the last 25 years. I am 60. I just really love what you do.
You could tell by the end of the video that your buddy was just having way too much fun rolling around doing that. Awesome video. Really wholesome people down there.
I'm half French Creole and as a child I was fluent in French. That was the only language my Gampy(4/22/28-4/28/24 from Lake Charles Louisiana) would talk to me in. But growing up in California Bay Area had to learn to speak English. I barely speak French Creole now. But seeing videos like this make me wanna keep my culture alive and become fluent in French again.
So I'm an Acadian from Canada, so the French-Canadians that were expelled from here to USA and back to France (and also murdered). I've always been fascinated by Cajun culture as I always knew we had so many similarities but WOW hearing it from actual people! It's unbelievable how there's a similar sound to the Acadian accent! I wish they would come back to Canada but now give ACADIA a chance (and not Quebec or Ontario). If they came back home, not only would they meet people with similar surnames but a weirdly similar yet different culture that would remind them of their families and early memories
I want to visit its a bucket list Item for me my ancestors on my mothers side all came from your region (Blanchards,Crochets) and on my dads side (Cavaliers,and alborados )I was told were from the Canary Islands what a mixture.
@@chadcavalier1113 very interesting!! it's also a bucket list item for me!!! I wanna be on one of those famous balconies in the French quarter, strong liquor in hand, heavy rain and loud brass music reverberating between buildings:)
@legendofburb hey! I have Babins in my family too! So my grandparents surnames are Bernard, Ouellette, Pitre and Cormier but a Bernard aunt of mine married into the Babins so now I have a few cousins and 2nd cousins with Babin surnames :)
We have a hunting/fishing camp in a very rural area of LA that isn't a part of cajun country. My dad was out fishing from the bank, and a very out of place car drove up to him. A visibly concerned looking couple got out and approached him. They were from France and lost! When my dad's started speaking French to them they were ecstatic. They spoke no english and the others they asked for help couldn't understand them. My dad gave them the rundown on how this wasn't a French area of the state and they were extremely lucky to find him. They talked for over an hour.
