As a native of Louisiana, I have had the pleasure to enjoy the benefits of living in a state with various cultures that blend cohesively with one another. The words that I have learned as a child reflect what the culture that I live. I may not speak a creole language, but I have experienced the culture just the same. Words like, boudin or andouille, are not familiar to visitors or tourists to the state, but it’s something that feeds into the culture’s heritage. I have spoken with my fair share of people across the parishes, from New Orleans to Shreveport, and each place has their own style of language. Subsequently, creole languages should not be looked down as they have previously. Sometimes it is described as speaking broken English, …show more content…
Cristophe is a linguistic historian that has used technology to create a newer way of preserving languages. As opposed to the previous notion that the younger generation is not actively trying to save the language, the dictionary was kickstarted by younger Louisiana natives that don’t want to see the language die with the older generation. Christophe explains, “Lots of young people are really quite afraid that this very important aspect of their culture will die along with the older people. So now there’s a vibrant movement, that really emerged out of Facebook, of young people who want to learn” (Hakner). The story behind Christophe’s emergence into the Creole language was due to him living with his grandparents and being exposed to the language firsthand. It was this passing of not only language but culture, that is an example of how most languages survive. It is imperative for an adult to speak with their children in order for the language to be learned. For instance, a child whose parents speaks and teaches the language allows that child to interpret language readily versus an isolated child who begins to learn speech at a later age will have a higher difficulty understanding ideas and so on. By Christophe being exposed as a child to the language daily meant that …show more content…
There are at least twenty-six schools in several parishes that offer French immersion schools. The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) is committed to helping students learn French within the state of Louisiana. The efforts of CODOFIL has been to create awareness of the Louisiana French heritage and how it is important to teach it in schools. The program has been more than satisfactory for more than thirty years. Alumni Megan Lindsey, of French immersion school, commented, “Not only were we taught in a wonderful new language, but we learned about our French heritage and connected organically with our culture” (World Language Alumna). This goes to show that language is an important aspect when connecting to culture to the everyday life. If CODOFIL is able to enrich the younger generation into learning French maybe there is a way for the state inspire young adults to learn the Creole language. CODOFIL is an example that we can preserve our culture through
Languages are formed through a structure of sounds in a way the college structure is formed. By piecing together a sentence, it can form a picture a lot like the collage pieces together to form an idea. From a page of Sista Tongue “Garrans da haole tourist at da haole tourist at da same counta going pay mo money fo rent one car. Despite its widespread use as a marker of local identity, HCE also carries negative connotation.” (Kanae) is on one page next to each other. A person may have trouble forming the words of their mother-tongue and their identity feel weak. The lines that cut through Lisa Kanae’s words can represent that broken identity. This can be shown from a quote “Reinecke points out that the formation of a Creole language met the need for a ‘medium of commu-nication between numbers of non-English speaking groups” (qtd in Kanae), the line cuts between ‘formation of a’ and ‘Creole language’ and the word ‘communication’ is cut in between to fit into another line. This shows the meaning of Lisa Kanae’s message in a visual form that Creole language is made up of different languages: English, Cantonese, and Hawaiian, to make one language. This collage form also emphases certain words and sentences. It is very similar to how bilingual people code-shifts from one language to another. I often switch between English and Cantonese with my parents to convey my message in a way the collage form Lisa
What does Bethell mean when he writes, "If the Creoles had one eye on their masters, they kept the other on their servants"? conscious social position, not friendly w/ peninsulares but worried from lower class revolution
The culture of Louisiana is not one general set of customs and beliefs shared by all those who live in the area. Louisiana is a state in which many different elements are mixed together to create what can be described as Southern Louisianan culture. The two most predominant elements which make up the culture within the southern region of the state are the cultures of the Creoles and the Cajuns, which have many different influences within them. A complex blend of many different elements including religion, language, music, and food, create the unique culture of the Cajuns and the Creoles in the region of Southern Louisiana.
No matter what side of the spectrum a person may fall on, the history of the French language in Louisiana runs deep. It was introduced to this land in the eighteenth century as Europeans emigrated from France and the Acadian refugees ventured from Canada. French was Louisiana’s language. As mentioned earlier, efforts are being made to preserve the general French language and background of Louisiana ("Parlez-Vous? Some Louisiana Pupils Being Immersed in French Instruction", 2011). Louisiana currently has thirty schools that offer the French immersion program. CODOFIL is working diligently to increase the amount of schools that offer French immersion programs. It is crucial that these programs be implemented in order to maintain a unique and special characteristic of Louisiana ("Parlez-Vous? Some Louisiana Pupils Being Immersed in French Instruction").
Our world is full of different cultures and languages. Many of these different languages are mainly used in schools. Most of the time none english speaking students have a hard time transitioning between english and their native language. This could be a reason why school boards have provided programs like ESL, to help students adapt and learn american standard english. Recently one of the main languages that have been giving students problem to succeed in their education is African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Recent studies have been conducted to bring AAVE in schools which will result in higher test score, however people are disagreeing with the idea because they don't want their children to learn “slags”, but AAVE is not a slang, just like standard english AAVE is a language.
Sacher, John M. "Louisiana." Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. Ed. Paul Finkelman. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2006. 305-307. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
The word community is defined as a group of individuals residing in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. We all, whether we know this or not, belong to particular communities and even sub communities (self contained community within an unusually large area). One particular community that I've been a part of during my entire life is the Haitian community. An Haitian Community is usually a place where a group of Haitian nationals reside, we share many cultural beliefs and practices together. In this paper I will be investigating some of the beliefs and practices of the Haitian Community.
Rickford, John R. "The Creole Origins of African American Vernacular English: Evidence from Copula Absence." Http://www.modlinguistics.com/. Http://www.modlinguistics.com/, 1998. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
The Creoles wanted to somehow get political power, but they were being rejected of it; however, they were gaining nobility. They owned the “largest and richest mines and haciendas” (Hook Exercise), but even with wealth, the Creoles “held few high-ranking jobs in the government” (Hook Exercise); hence, those jobs went to the peninsulares. They were also the “least oppressed” (Modern World History) of those who were born in the Latin America as well as the most educated, for they adopted the Enlightenment ideas. Also, when the monarchy collapsed, the Creoles wouldn’t let the “political vacuum to remain unfilled, their lives and
...e, Geneviève, and Armin Schwegler. Creoles, Contact, and Language Change: Linguistics and Social Implications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub., 2004. Print.
The two cultures that I identify myself with Haitian culture and American culture. The American culture is more dominant and I identify myself most with this culture. Although I was born in Haiti and Haitian culture was once my dominant culture, it is now my co-culture. Nonetheless, a combination of these two cultures would be Haitian-American culture.
Hispanic American language is one that is adorable to many people due to its pattern of communication. In the article, there are many of the languages used in that exist in the United States some of which includes; African Americans, European Americans, Hispanic Americans among others. Some of the communication patterns of these languages have been clearly stated by identifying various factors like; emotions, eye contact, gestures, identity orientation, pacing and pause time, vocal patterns and the volume of their voice whenever they speak to someone. The article depicts Hispanic American languages as one of the best which can be used in public or businesses since it shows the one talking as a very humble individual.
Language is a mean of communication in any given society. It represents the ability to evolve and progress through the ongoing process of living with other human beings. Many can perceive this instrument as tool of liberation and transformation but others as an instrument to enslave, manipulate or oppress a group of people. Whichever the case one need to acknowledge that it is necessary and not a waste of time the many different discussions about this ongoing topic regardless of the time period or social context any country might have. In Puerto Rico, there has been an ongoing dilemma about languages; Dr. Alicia Pousada examines on her essay what many might define “the language madness on the island”. Throughout this paper some of her most interesting ideas will be shared and discussed so that this already extended topic might find another page to take place.
Jean Rhys writes Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) as a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre (1847) in order to give life to Bertha Mason, a Jamaican creole who is locked in the attic as a madwoman by her English husband, Rochester. Rhys thinks that Bertha is completely undermined and negated in Bronte’s novel. Bronte’s silences over Bertha’s identity and history enforce Rhys to break the unspoken and deliberately neglected white creole’s identity; and give her a voice that humanizes this supposedly inferior creole, and validates her quest for identity and belonging while also challenging Western hegemonic expectations and conditions. Rhys, in an interview with Hannah Carter, reveals:
As the Hispanic Caribbean has evolved it has managed to grow and thrive beyond belief, whether one is discussing art, music or just the culture alone the Hispanic Caribbean is truly reaping the benefits of allowing themselves to be influenced by many other cultures. While the Hispanic Caribbean is thriving they are still facing the many new found struggles that come along with the territory of becoming more affluent as well as more accepting to other cultures and their beliefs. Often with the growth of large proportions comes many problems, problems also can come about when incorporating of different cultures as a whole as well as just bringing in their beliefs and mannerisms. None the less it can be argued that the struggles being faced in