Bridging Generations: LSU Helps Preserve Louisiana French Through Hands-On Student Initiatives

In 1970, there were one million Louisiana French speakers in Louisiana, but by 2012, that number had dropped to only 250,000 speakers. The LSU French Department is working towards preserving this endangered language, considered in many ways the backbone of Louisiana culture. 

Louisiana French is the language spoken by Creoles and various indigenous groups in Louisiana.

For Louisiana natives, the language plays a vital role in a person’s identity, as it is a direct connection to their history. The current generation of Louisiana French speakers can honor those who came before them by learning and preserving the language. Not only does the language affect the identity of Louisiana natives, it also affects the culture. Louisiana's music, style, food, traditions, and holidays like Mardi Gras are all cultivated in French. 

Were the language to disappear, the culture could be lost as well, along with its many benefits to Louisiana. This unique Louisianan culture is celebrated all over the world, but it also brings tourism to the state. The language is vital to the state, and LSU is an important part of the effort to preserve the language. 

Leading the work is LSU professor and Ph.D. student Erin Segura, a Louisiana native with a passion for Louisiana French. She is working closely with LSU students to help preserve the language.

Segura teaches a four-course series in beginner and intermediate-level Louisiana French that counts as a language credit toward a degree. During the third and fourth semesters, students work on creating and adding to the Dictionary of Louisiana French. Students go into the community and interview native speakers to collect authentic examples of spoken Louisiana French while there are still living native speakers. 

Explore LSU's Department of French Studies

The Dictionary of Louisiana French is one of the projects currently in the T. Williams Center for Oral History, where the public can access it. 

“The woman who taught these courses from 1999 to 2015 said that the Dictionary of Louisiana French would not exist without the work that LSU students do,” Segura said. “Every single word in that dictionary has not only a definition, but also an authentic sample sentence that came directly from the interviews that LSU students conducted.”

This year marks the 25th anniversary of this project. The dictionary is the ultimate resource of the language, and Segura said it is one of the greatest successes of the LSU French Department’s effort to preserve the language. 

Not only do students participate in the interview project, but they also help integrate Louisiana French into modern contexts and daily life, sharing their work through YouTube videos and in social media posts. 

Segura said another positive outcome from her Louisiana French preservation experience is seeing the relationships students foster with native speakers, as well as seeing students continue to work on or speak the language. 

LSU alumna Ali Smith worked closely with Segura to preserve the language while she was a student studying Louisiana French. Smith is also a Louisiana native with a deeply rooted Cajun French family. 

“I wanted to be as involved as possible with her initiative to keep this language alive,” Smith said. “We did several oral history projects throughout my coursework, and I took every opportunity to learn with and from her.”

Smith conducted interviews for the oral history research projects with the last fluent Louisiana French speaker in her family. She said this was a memorable experience where she was able to not only learn more of the language, but also was able to learn about her family’s history. 

“I was able to take a deep dive into the history and strengthen the connection between the language I was studying and the people who gifted it to us,” Smith said.  

Smith’s goal is to become fully fluent in the language, and to become more involved with community preservation projects including LSU’s Louisiana French program. Looking into the future, Segura and Smith both highlight the importance of people learning the language in order to preserve it. 

“Point blank, if people want to preserve the language, they need to learn the language,” Segura said. “They don’t have to learn it fluently, but being familiar with the language will help keep the culture, language and traditions alive that make Louisiana different from anywhere else in the country.”

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