French language in the United States

 

For French people in the United States, see French American.

French language in the United States. Counties and parishes marked in yellow are those where 6–12% of the population speak French at home; brown, 12–18%; red, over 18%. The census response "Cajun" and French-based creole languages are not included

The French language is spoken as a minority language in the United States. According to year 2000 census figures, 1.6 million Americans over the age of five speak the language at home, making French the fourth most-spoken language in the nation behind English, Spanish, and Chinese (when both the Cantonese and Mandarin dialects are combined). Three major varieties of French developed in the United States: Louisiana French, spoken in Louisiana; New England French (a local variant of Canadian French spoken in New England); and the nearly extinct Missouri French, historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois. More recently, French has also been carried to various parts of the nation via immigration from Francophone regions. Today, French is the second most-spoken language in four states: Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

French ancestry

More than 13 million Americans claim some French ancestry. The people born in a French speaking nation and living in United States is approximately 9,412,000 and 1,979,951 people use French in their home on a daily basis. The US Census Bureau's 2000 census lists French as the fourth most-spoken language in the nation after English, Spanish and Chinese, although this is somewhat misleading because the census groups together the various languages of China. Thus, this population forms the fourth largest ethnic market, hailing from such places as France, Quebec, Belgium, Haiti, Senegal and other parts of the world.

Dialects and varieties

Bilingual road sign in Louisiana

There are three major groups of French dialects that emerged in what is now the United States: Louisiana French, Missouri French, and New England French (essentially a variant of Canadian French).

Louisiana French is itself traditionally divided into three dialects, Colonial French, Louisiana Creole French, and Cajun French. Colonial French is traditionally said to have been the form of French spoken in the early days of settlement in the lower Mississippi River valley, and was once the language of the educated land-owning classes. Cajun French, derived from Acadian French, is said to have been introduced with the arrival of Acadian immigrants in the 17th century. The Acadians, the francophone inhabitants of Acadia (modern Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and northern Maine), were expelled from their homeland between 1755 and 1763 by the British. Many Acadians settled in lower Louisiana, where they became known as Cajuns (a corruption of "Acadians"). Their dialect was regarded as the typical language of white lower classes, while Louisiana Creole French developed as the language of the black community. Today, most linguists regard Colonial French to have largely merged with Cajun, while Louisiana Creole remains a distinct variety.

Missouri French was spoken by the descendants of 17th-century French settlers in east central Missouri, then called Haute-Lousiane (Upper Louisiana), especially in the area of Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, and in Washington County. In the 1930s there were said to be about 600 French-speaking families in the Old Mines region between De Soto and Potosi. By the late 20th century the dialect was nearly extinct, with only a few elderly speakers able to use it.

New England French, essentially a local variety of Canadian French, is spoken in parts of the New England states. This area has a legacy of significant immigration from Canada, especially during the 19th and the early 20th centuries. Some Americans of French heritage who have lost the language are currently attempting to revive it.

Ernest F. Haden identifies the French of Frenchville, Pennsylvania (Covington Township) as a distinct dialect of North American French. "While the French enclave of Frenchville, Pennsylvania first received attention in the late 1960s, the variety of French spoken has not been the subject of systematic linguistic study. Haden reports that the geographical origin of its settlers is central France, as was also the case of New Orleans, but with settlement being more recent (1830-1840). He also reports that in the 1960s French seemed to be on the verge of extinction in the community."

Newer Francophone immigrants

In Florida, the city of Miami is home to a large Francophone community, consisting of French expatriates, Haitians (Haitians speaking Haitian Creole, which is derived mostly from French), and French Canadians; there is also a growing community of Francophone Africans in and around Orlando and Tampa. A small but sustaining French community that originated in San Francisco during the Gold Rush and was supplemented by French wine-making immigrants to the Bay Area is centered culturally around that city's French Quarter.

Francophone tourists and retirees

Many retired individuals from Quebec have moved either to Florida or Hawaii, or at least spend the winter there. Also, the many Canadians who travel to the Southeastern states in the winter and spring include a number Francophones, mostly from Quebec but also from New Brunswick and Ontario. Quebecers also tend to visit Louisiana, as Quebec and Louisiana share a number of cultural ties.

Language study

French has traditionally been the foreign language of choice for English-speakers across the globe. While remaining so in Canada, Great Britain and Ireland, the distinction has since been claimed by Spanish in the United States – probably a consequence of heavy immigration from, and increased general interest in, Latin America. French is currently the second-most studied foreign language in the US, behind Spanish and ahead of German. Most U.S. high schools and universities offer French-language courses, and degree programs in the language are common. As a rule, the French taught in American classrooms is that of France, as opposed to Canadian French, despite the geographic proximity of Canada to the United States. This can cause confusion when U.S. students attempt to speak French in Canada, as there are significant dialectal differences between the two; although the differences are fortunately minimized if formal French is used, informal conversational Quebec French can be challenging for Americans and other non-Canadians to understand.^{[citation needed]} However, the written form of French in Quebec is the same as in France and other parts of Europe.

In the fall of 2009, 216,419 American university students were enrolled in French courses, the second-highest total of any language (behind Spanish).

Francophone communities

More than 1,000 inhabitants

• Madawaska, Maine (pop. 4,534) - 84% French-speaking
• Fort Kent, Maine (pop. 4,233) - 61% French-speaking
• Van Buren, Maine (pop. 2,631) - 79% French-speaking
• Frenchville, Maine (pop. 1,225) - 80% French-speaking

Fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

• Eagle Lake, Maine (pop. 815) - 50% French-speaking
• St. Agatha, Maine (pop. 802) - 80% French-speaking
• St. Francis, Maine (pop. 577) - 61% French-speaking
• Grand Isle, Maine (pop. 518) - 76% French-speaking
• Saint John Plantation, Maine (pop. 282) - 60% French-speaking
• Hamlin, Maine (pop. 257) - 57% French-speaking

Counties and parishes with the highest proportion of French-speakers

Note: speakers of French-based creole languages are not included in percentages.

• St. Martin Parish, Louisiana (pop. 48,583) - 27.4% French-speaking
• Evangeline Parish, Louisiana (pop. 35,434) - 25.7% French-speaking
• Vermilion Parish, Louisiana (pop. 53,807) - 24.9% French-speaking
• Aroostook County, Maine (pop. 73,938) - 22.4% French-speaking
• Lafourche Parish, Louisiana (pop. 89,974) - 19.1% French-speaking
• Acadia Parish, Louisiana (pop. 58,861) - 19.0% French-speaking
• Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana (pop. 41,481) - 17.6% French-speaking
• Assumption Parish, Louisiana (pop. 23,388) - 17.6% French-speaking
• St. Landry Parish, Louisiana (pop. 87,700) - 16.7% French-speaking
• Coos County, New Hampshire (pop. 33,111) - 16.2% French-speaking
• Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana (pop. 31,435) - 16.2% French-speaking
• Lafayette Parish, Louisiana (pop. 190,503) - 14.4% French-speaking
• Androscoggin County, Maine (pop. 103,793) - 14.3% French-speaking

Seasonal migrations

Florida, California, New York, Texas, Louisiana, Hawaii, and a few other popular resort regions (most notably Old Orchard Beach, Maine and Cape May, New Jersey) are visited in large numbers by Quebeckers, during winter and summer vacations.

French place-names

Main article: List of U.S. place names of French origin

French Newspapers in the United States

• Franco-American newspapers

French radio stations in the United States

• WSRF (AM 1580), Miami area
• WYGG (FM 88.1), central New Jersey
• KBON (FM 101.1), southern Louisiana (spoken programming is English, but features French language music)
• KJEF (AM 1290), southern Louisiana (spoken programming is English, but features French language music)
• KLCL (AM 1470), southern Louisiana (spoken programming is English, but features French language music)

French schools in the United States

• Audubon Charter School, New Orleans
• Dallas International School
• École Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orléans
• École secondaire Saint-Dominique, Auburn, Maine
• French Academy of Bilingual Culture, New Milford, New Jersey
• Lycée Français de New York
• Lycée Français de Los Angeles
• Lycée Français de Chicago
• Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans
• Lycée Français La Pérouse, San Francisco
• Lycée International de Los Angeles
• French American International School, San Francisco
• French American School of Arizona, Tempe, AZ
• French-American School of New York
• International School of Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ
• International School of Tucson
• International School of Louisiana (ISL)
• The Language Academy, San Diego
• French International School of Philadelphia
• L'Ecole Française du Maine
• French Immersion School of Washington
• Ecole franco-américaine de la Silicon Valley
• French American International School (Portland, Oregon)
• Portland French School Portland, Oregon
• Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley Berkeley, California
• John Hanson French Immersion School, Oxon Hill, MD
• Robert Goddard French Immersion School, Lanham, MD
• The Waring School, French Immersion School, Beverly, MA
• Ecole Internationale de Boston / International School of Boston (www.isbos.org), Cambridge & Arlington, MA
• Normandale French Immersion Elementary School, Edina, MN
• Saint Louis Language Immersion Schools, Saint Louis, MO. http://www.sllis.org/
• École Française Bilingue de Greenville, SC
• Lycée Rochambeau
• Académie Lafayette - French Immersion Charter Public School, Kansas City, MO
• Santa Rosa French-American Charter School Santa Rosa, CA

See also

• Spanish language in the United States
• Languages of the United States

External links

• History of French settlement in Detroit, MI
• Bonjour L.A.! Los Angeles with a French Touch - French Bonjour L.A.! Los Angeles with a French Touch
• Vivre en Orange County - French Community in Orange County, California
• Council for the Development of French in Louisiana - a state agency.
• The Social Network for New York's French-speaking community
• The website in New York in French with free events in French