Cajun Self-Taught : Learning to Speak the Cajun Language

Rating:
Summary: Cajun Self-Taught : Learning To Speak The Cajun Language
Review: I have really enjoyed reading and learning the language.I would recommend this book to anyone interested. I strongly suggest the audio tapes also.

Rating:
Summary: A good Cajun tutorial if you already know standard French
Review: Probably the most important feature of this book is its existence - without the work of people like Rev. Daigle Cajun French might die out entirely. That said I'm not sure that I entirely agree with all of the good father's opinions, starting with his decision to call the language Cajun rather than Cajun French. I've known my share of Cajuns that failed French at LSU but I suspect that's because they were taking it in an attempt to get out having to study a foreign language and consequently didn't put much effort into their studies. Many, if not most, of the differences in grammar and pronunciation with standard French that Father Daigle points out are common features of spoken colloquial French in France today, particularly among rural people in the parts of France where Cajuns originate. The biggest difference between the languages is in vocabulary and as Father Daigle points out, this is a natural outgrowth of over two centuries of life in Louisiana separated from standard French and being surrounded by an English speaking country. The fact that Cajuns speak of "les pickup-trucks" and such is not sufficient to constitute a separate language. Placed in a room together, a Cajun and a Frenchman will quickly figure out how to communicate and where they have difficulties it will most likely be because of differences in American and French culture rather than the language. My father can relate a story of a French engineer from the utility company in Paris arriving in New Orleans for a conference. She was able to converse quite freely in French with the Cajun engineer who picked her up at the airport although they used English to conduct business, as the Cajun engineer did not know the "correct" French electrical engineering terminology.

With that said, I feel that if you speak Cajun French then you probably don't need the book (although the dictionary might be useful) and unless you live down in Cajun country or can study Cajun French at LSU or one of the other universities in Louisiana that offer it, it would be best to study standard French first and then use the book to see what the differences are. This book simply doesn't constitute a language course either alone or with the dictionary and tapes and there just aren't enough resources available to make the study of Cajun French practical without resorting to some standard French references.