United States: Télé-Louisiane, a medium to preserve the French language

Audio 02:32

Excerpt from Télé-Louisiane.

In Louisiana, French is still spoken by a minority, especially the elderly.

It is also taught in around thirty schools and immersion schools, thanks to a partnership with the French National Education.

© YouTube / Louisiana TV / Screenshot

By: Anne Corpet Follow

6 mins

Young people from Louisiana, this state ceded to the Americans by France in 1803, are trying to revive the French language.

They created a television, Télé-Louisiane, broadcast on the Internet.

It has some 300,000 viewers.

Publicity

From our special correspondent in New Orleans,

Will Magrou films the trailer for a show in the noisy streets of New Orleans.

He is the founder of

Télé-Louisiane

, a small channel broadcast on the Net that he created in 2018.

“ 

There are always elders here who speak true Louisiana French and true Louisiana Creole.

This allows us to pass the baton between generations.

There are fewer and fewer people who speak French as their mother tongue in Louisiana,

 ”says Will Magrou.

Then to add: " 

So we get more involved and we believe that it is our role and our obligation to continue the battle and to take over from the elders who fought for many years

 ", underlines. he.

A once shameful language

French has indeed long been a shameful language in Louisiana.

At school, American teachers forbade children to use it.

Yann Foll is 17 years old and he had to relearn this language that his ancestors spoke fluently.

“ 

My father's parents spoke French when they were young, but when they had children, they decided not to pass on their French.

Maybe because they were ashamed, because they were punished at school for speaking French.

It's a shame

 ”, regrets Yann Foll, who continues:“ 

I studied French at school when I was 8 years old, and French has really changed the way I see the world.

Now that I speak French, I am more proud of my heritage and I want to protect it and, of course, continue French in Louisiana.

 "

Live your identity fully

Tye Ogouss hosts a program,

La Créole Show

, on Télé-Louisiane.

It is for him a way of fully living his identity.

“ 

My nationality is American, my culture is Louisiana, my language is Creole and also French.

So for me, there is a mixture of everything.

If you want to know the true history of Louisiana, you have to speak French well.

It is the language of the country.

Here, we are another country.

We are not Americans! 

He laughs.

And to seduce the little ones and familiarize them with French, Télé-Louisiane now broadcasts a cartoon,

Boudini and his friends

, which tell stories specifically linked to this state in the south of the United States.

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• United States

• French language