• stevehobbes@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    What other French areas in North America are you familiar with? The only one I can think of is maybe Haiti?

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      A chunk of New-Brunswick, a chunk of Eastern Ontario and a chunk of Northern Ontario, that’s pretty much it. There’s a couple of French communities left in Manitoba (when they were a big part of the province’s population until 100 years ago or so)…

      • stevehobbes@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        There is very little French spoken in New Orleans. There’s more creole, but is absolutely not used virtually anywhere as a part of daily life.

        I haven’t been to Baton Rouge, but a quick googling suggests the same. It is not an official language and not part of daily life. It is heritage more than practice.

        Which is what Quebec is trying to avoid.

    • Stamets@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago
      • Haiti.
      • Significant parts of New Brunswick
      • Significant parts of the southern United States, primarily Louisiana.
      • St. Pierre and Miquelon, otherwise known as France.

      I mean it’s the THIRD most spoken language in the entirety of North America. It is the second most widely taught foreign language (outside of Spanish) in American schools. Maine and Vermont essentially mainline French on the side with it being spoken pretty widely. Three major versions of French exist throughout the United States after descending from French settlers, much like Quebec. United States even has some towns (while small) that predominately speak French with Berlin, NH being one such example with over 10,000 citizens.

      Pretending that French is a niche language that is in risk of dying out is laughably pathetic.

      • stevehobbes@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        There is very little French spoken in Louisiana. There’s more creole, but it’s still single digit percentages. It is not common and their curriculums are certainly not in French.

        The entire towns website for Berlin, NH is in English: https://www.berlinnh.gov/. There’s not even a French translation.

        I think you are severely overestimating the prevalence of French as an official language in North America - and even as a lingua Franca.

      • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        You’re confusing all French together like it’s one monolithic language and everyone speaks the same dialect.

        It’s like saying English in Scotland, in Australia, in Texas, or whatever are all the same.

        They all have their district differences.

        The same with Québec French. It’s not France French.

        And they all have distinct cultures and music genres and poetry and literature and art that make up the whole local culture.

        That’s what you don’t seem to understand in this whole thing.