RUMFORD – Parlez-vous Francais? Yes, they do. Every Tuesday at lunchtime, a group of women with deep roots in the French language and culture meet to maintain their language skills.
Calling themselves Les Amis de Conversation, or friends in conversation, the group of four to 10 friends meets at the River Valley Grill for a rare opportunity to speak the language of their parents and grandparents.
“We’re trying to keep the language alive. Not a lot of people speak it,” said Lucienne Gilbert, Rumford, a member for about a year and retired from Rumford District Court. “It’s helped me a lot. I didn’t have anyone to speak French with.”
The group began meeting about four years ago, led by Terry Martin, as an arm of the Acadian Heritage Society. Now it’s much more informal, said Dorothy Bernard, a member since the beginning. And those who share lunch together don’t have to be a member of the Acadian group.
Gilbert and Bernard said they only spoke French as children, much like their parents, many of whom moved to the area because of the paper mill. Bernard is also a retiree from what was once Boise Cascade.
And many in the group come from families who immigrated from New Brunswick in the early 20th century. Gilbert’s family was from Green River in New Brunswick, Bernard’s from Rogersville.
“I didn’t know a word of English when I started at St. Theresa’s School in Mexico,” said Gilbert.
Bernard said the same was true for her. And the nuns teaching there didn’t speak English, either.
But, over the years, their French speaking skills declined, in favor of English.
“We want to keep the language alive in the Rumford area,” said Bernard.
Pauline Sirois Richards, a three-year resident of Peru who moved there from Caribou, began attending the weekly luncheons about six months ago.
“I grew up in a French home, but my last connection with French was with my dad,” she said, adding that her father had died.
Now, she’s trying to get some of that fluency back.
Bernard said the luncheons are working. When they began, she said those attending spoke French 10 percent of the time, now it’s 50 percent of the time.
“Our goal is to speak French 75 percent of the time and English 25 percent of the time,” said Bernard. “This helps more than lessons and has helped me tremendously. When I go to Canada now, I can follow what they say. I couldn’t before.”
Bernard said the French spoken by those who immigrated from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is a pure French, unlike the French spoken in the province of Quebec, which has evolved.
“It’s the old French because those provinces were so isolated,” she said.
Everyone is invited to the weekly luncheons – Acadian French speakers, Quebec French speakers and those who have no ethnic background in French. The women meet around noon.
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