WEBVTT

00:00:00.419 --> 00:00:02.546
Hi my name's Sam Craft and

00:00:02.575 --> 00:00:04.508
I was born here in New Orleans

00:00:06.934 --> 00:00:08.919
i was not brought up speaking French,

00:00:09.832 --> 00:00:11.970
but it's something i've picked up.

00:00:15.149 --> 00:00:19.771
It was the native language of my
grandparents

00:00:19.771 --> 00:00:22.159
and great-great-grandparents.

00:00:25.253 --> 00:00:27.950
But it was something i had to learn.

00:00:30.906 --> 00:00:33.272
My dialect is Louisiana French.

00:00:35.464 --> 00:00:38.375
It's different than standard French


00:00:38.805 --> 00:00:41.432
that you'd learn at school.

00:00:42.402 --> 00:00:47.308
It's the native Louisiana language

00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:51.445
and... i'm proud to speak it.

00:00:54.585 --> 00:00:59.498
I play in the band "Sweet Crude"

00:01:00.294 --> 00:01:05.019
and I sing, and play the violin
and tambourine.

00:01:06.416 --> 00:01:09.497
The name Sweet Crude come from...

00:01:09.860 --> 00:01:11.548
it is a quality of oil,

00:01:12.619 --> 00:01:17.627
it's the highest quality
of oil that you can find.

00:01:18.858 --> 00:01:20.674
It's also an oxymoron


00:01:21.051 --> 00:01:23.670
(I don't know the French name for that)

00:01:23.891 --> 00:01:27.257
but we like the name!

00:01:30.910 --> 00:01:33.971
I wasn't brought up speaking French but

00:01:34.343 --> 00:01:37.069
it was very important for me,

00:01:37.069 --> 00:01:41.459
for us, to learn it to preserve it

00:01:42.777 --> 00:01:46.657
because if you don't preserve it,


00:01:46.808 --> 00:01:49.117
it's finished. It'll die.

00:01:50.623 --> 00:01:52.333
And we don't want to see that.

00:01:54.551 --> 00:01:57.722
We so started our band

00:01:57.825 --> 00:01:59.785
that sings in Louisiana French

00:02:01.847 --> 00:02:03.295
and we speak it -

00:02:04.946 --> 00:02:06.540
as much as possible!

00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:08.733
(in French: "autant que possible!")

00:02:12.189 --> 00:02:14.592
I'm ready to learn it all the time

00:02:15.148 --> 00:02:18.928
from Safae, Siedl.

00:02:20.423 --> 00:02:23.049
I have to speak to old people,

00:02:24.725 --> 00:02:26.373
the members of my family,

00:02:26.406 --> 00:02:28.412
and the family of Alexis [Marceaux],

00:02:29.943 --> 00:02:33.386
and that's what you have to do

00:02:33.405 --> 00:02:35.172
and you do have to do it
to learn.

00:02:35.270 --> 00:02:37.399
Because there are books,

00:02:37.421 --> 00:02:39.064
but they're not enough.

00:02:39.957 --> 00:02:43.139
There are classes, 
but they're not enough.

00:02:43.600 --> 00:02:45.474
We live in New Orleans

00:02:45.650 --> 00:02:47.556
and people speak Louisiana French here.

00:02:47.911 --> 00:02:50.270
People speaking standard French

00:02:50.445 --> 00:02:53.130
learn it at school.

00:02:55.001 --> 00:02:57.068
So if you stay in New Orleans,


00:02:57.835 --> 00:03:00.678
it's different, we have our own 
culture here.

00:03:01.647 --> 00:03:05.522
It's not the same,

00:03:07.077 --> 00:03:12.892
but it's still an important thing for me

00:03:13.646 --> 00:03:15.677
because it is still the world

00:03:15.677 --> 00:03:18.423
I come from.

00:03:18.591 --> 00:03:20.050
My ancestors...

00:03:20.050 --> 00:03:23.111
They've been talking Louisiana French

00:03:23.468 --> 00:03:27.670
for around... 100 years ago maybe.

00:03:29.122 --> 00:03:30.606
But it's my roots,

00:03:30.606 --> 00:03:34.388
it's the roots of many members of my band,

00:03:34.388 --> 00:03:36.858
and it's really important
for the rest of us.

00:03:38.480 --> 00:03:39.947
I think that's it!


00:03:39.997 --> 00:03:41.517
Thank you.