Información de la editorial
MAIS, SA C'EST QUEQUE CHOSE QUAND MEME!
Cajun French is still widely heard throughout Louisiana. However, the
survival of this language-spoken by the descendants of the exiled Acadians-has
by no means been assured (it was even illegal to speak it at one time), and
even today the teaching of Cajun French in schools is a controversial issue.
Now, the publication of Conversational Cajun French I, the first
systematic approach to teaching the language, makes Cajun French accessible to
those born outside Cajun families.
Authors Randall Whatley and Harry Jannise, Cajuns who speak fluent Cajun
French, originally developed this handbook for a series of informal
conversational Cajun French classes for the LSU Union in Baton Rouge.
As an introduction to Cajun French, the book is extremely practical.
Conversational Cajun French I focuses on everyday words and
common phrases that can be understood everywhere the language is spoken,
despite the various dialects and subdialects. It teaches the Cajun words for
the days and months, holidays, parts of the body, number, clothing, colors,
rooms of the house and their furnishings, foods, animals, fruits and
vegetables, tools, plants, and trees. In addition, there is a section of useful
expressions and a list of traditional Cajun names.
Although the book is designed to be used in conjunction with tapes, * a
pronunciation guide enables even the beginning student working alone to learn
enough to converse with Cajuns or at least enough to stay out of trouble
in South Louisiana.
Conversational Cajun French I is an important book not only
because it provides a means for those trying to learn Cajun French on their
own, but also because it marks an effort to preserve the Cajun French language
and culture and to win a wider acceptance for this unique aspect of
Louisiana's-and indeed the United States'-heritage. Also available on audiocassette.
