What is the status of Walloon French in WI? (Sturgeon Bay: houses, live)

[viktor77]

Is there anyone here from the Brown/Door/Kewaunee area or in general from Wisconsin who may have information on what the status of Walloon French is in those counties among the Belgians there? I've read quite a lot on this subject as it rather fascinates me how an immigrant language managed to survive more than a century in the US, resisting the death knell dealt so many other languages such as German and Norwegian. Last I read, and this was dated 1970 mind you, the language was in serious risk. Is there any hope that the language may be revitalized? Is there anyone left still speaking it daily? Are children learning the language in any capacity? Even if it's just passive understanding? It would be so tragic if shift to English has finally come about, nearly 150 years after they immigrated to Wisconsin. For the language to survive that long and then shift completely to English would be quite a sad story.

[cheese plate]

We have land out by Little Sturgeon. Parents bought it in the 60s. There were more out-and-out Belgians (Walloon, bright "Belgian blue" houses/farms, etc) when I was a kid, but some old-timers still speak it. Most of these folks are in Door County, though a few stragglers exist in Brown/Kewaunee. The Belgian influence was so strong in southern Door County that I grew up in Sturgeon Bay with Belgian jokes instead of Polish jokes (generally, you just swap the word for "Belgians"). Going up on your front bicycle tire was a "Belgian wheelie." And so on. I believe more exist near Brussels, WI, than anywhere else in the world outside Belgium. The jokes were generally applied, I think, because they so dominated farming in the areas south of Sturgeon Bay....and we were in the BIG CITY doing BIG CITY stuff...haha...also, Door County north of Sturgeon Bay is, of course, a very popular upscale tourist destination. When I moved from Sturgeon Bay to northern Door as a kid, everyone welcomed me "to Door County," even though I'd lived in it my whole life.

Wish I could give you an accurate reading on this...the only people I knew who could speak it 20 years ago seemed old to me at the time. I doubt it's very active, but some of those farming regions are pretty tight and hold to old traditions.