[LINK] "Nous parlons francais"

[rfmcdonald]

Joseph Nadeau's article in the Pawtucket Times, "Nous parlons francais", takes a look at the efforts of Franco-Americans, descendants of French Canadian migrants in the late 19th and early 20th century, to maintain something of their language and heritage in the old industrial city of Woonsocket.

It’s possible to listen to French being spoken on local radio programs, and you can still find older city residents at the Woonsocket Senior Center who chat in French as easily as they do in English.

The problem for area Francophiles, however, is simply that there isn’t a lot of coordination between the various French-oriented events held in the area or the French Canadian resources located here, such as the American-French Genealogical Society library at 78 Earle St.

Dominique Gregoire, president of Alliance Francais de Providence, hopes to change all that with a new week-long celebration of the area’s French and French-Canadian ties, to be held in conjunction with International Francophone Day on March 20.

Gregoire, a native of Brittany, France, and resident of Rhode Island for the past 22 years, said the events to be held in Rhode Island starting March 19 are intended to bond the various groups already here into a more active network promoting Gallic culture.
During an announcement of the new collaboration at the Musee du Travail et de la Culture de Woonsocket (the Museum of Work and Culture), Gregoire said he sees the upcoming Semaine de la Francophonie 2009 (French Speakers Week) as an idea that can only grow.

“The Italians in Rhode Island have their day, and the Irish have their day, and now the French are going to have their week,” he said.

The concept of a week celebrating the area’s ties to the Province de Quebec, Canada, France, and to many of the 40 other French-speaking countries around the world, was raised at a meeting of a small group of like-minded Rhode Islanders about a year ago. It has since been expanded to include members of 10 Rhode Island organizations as well as French officials in the area.