French Language in Madawaska? (Brunswick, Fort Kent: home, living, restaurant)

[ChrisC]

I have a question about French being spoken in Madawaska (and the surrounding area). Is it regularly spoken in public?

Strange as it sounds, I have been considering moving to Quebec for a time (yes, I pass the Canadian immigration ‘test’) mainly because I want to live in a French speaking area. If I don’t leave the U.S. , is Madawaska (or Fort Kent, etc) an option for French? (Louisiana is WAY to hot for me!!! ) The climate and geography seem perfect for me as well in Maine...

Anyone? Parlez-vous français (in Maine)???

[kizzy1]

If you speak French to the valley people most will answer you in French. The older generation are French speaking. The youth can talk in French but their usual conversations are mostly English.

[Unhappycamper]

In the valley people can still speak French. It is becoming more and more uncommon though since this younger generation do not speak it as much as their parents and grandparents do. If you talk to someone in French there is a very good chance they can respond.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Kit Pelletier from St Francis told me, "I don' speak French. I don' speak English too either. I'm from de Valley. I speak English and French whichever word is de better one. Oui."

That's what he told me in 1976. It's still true. They take off in one language and switch languages in the middle of a sentence.

[Valley Living]

Yes, You will frequently here French speaking in resturaunts and coffee stops. Our family makes a conscience effort to speak French language in our home in hopes to pass it on to our children.

[Valley Living]

This is what some of us sound like here. I posted a video of a customs border crossing.

Têtes Ã* claques : Les douanes - tetesaclaques.tv (http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/video.php?vid=232 - broken link)

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by Valley Living

This is what some of us sound like here. I posted a video of a customs border crossing.

Têtes Ã* claques : Les douanes - tetesaclaques.tv (http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/video.php?vid=232 - broken link)

Thanks for the link! That's hilarious... especially the end--the 'Ford Focus' part!

[reindeerlady]

VERY funny! Oh man, am I ever going to have a hard time learning French! I love languages tho, so I'm hoping this old foggy brain can do it. No,no,no, no, no - Ford Focus! Hilarious, thanks for that

[Mark S.]

I don't know about Madawaska, but the last time I was in Fort Kent, half the folks in town were speaking French. Nearly all of the older people were speaking French.

[Acajack]

I live in the western part of Quebec and am a native French speaker. About 10 years ago my wife and I drove across Quebec from west to east on our way to PEI and Nova Scotia. We stopped in Edmundston, New Brunswick for the night and decided to cross over the border to have dinner in the States. The U.S. border guard in Madawaska spoke French with pretty much the exact same accent as us, and recommended this restaurant on a lake about (IIRC) 20 minutes out of town.

When we got there, obviously not being locals, we were greeted in English by the staff and proceeded to speak English with the waitresses until we realized we were the only ones in the entire place not speaking to them in French! Then a chansonnier (sort of like a cabaret singer) came on stage and started singing mix of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett songs interspersed with stuff in French by Michel Louvain (Quebec lounge singer) and Charles Aznavour (French crooner).

When I left the place I was curious and checked the cars in the parking lot to see if there were lots of New Brunswick or Quebec plates there, but ours was the only non-Maine plated car.

Although there were lots of anglicisms in their French, even people in their late 20s seemed to have French as an everyday language, although the people we spoke to did say that teens in the area were much less interested in speaking it than they were.

It was all very surprising and interesting, although I am not sure about going to live there for "immersion" with a view to learning the language. Seems to me that most everything related to "officialdom" there is strictly English, and French is pretty much an informal, albeit very present, thing.