Interview with Allen Simon

Accession No.: 
BE1-061

00:30 - Punishments for speaking French - Simon was punished - pinched, had to write lines, had to kneel on rice, etc;
01:15 - Cajun kids had trouble pronouncing "th";
04:00 - Certain schools were less strict with French speakers depending on school leadership;
06:00 - Confidence when speaking English;
06:15 - Camey and Deanna Doucet - Deanna told Allen he sounded much more confident when speaking French;
07:45 - Dudley LeBlanc and Roy Theriot;
08:20 - Catherine Brookshire Blanchet taught kids French skits and songs; Roy Theriot let them perform songs in French on KROF;
10:35 - Allen says he feels that Catherine Blanchet is an unsung heroine in the French preservation movement - She could read and write french, was a music teacher;
12:30 - Catherine would bring a radio into class, would request the radio DJ to play a song and would play it in class to teach songs;
13:30 - Catherine would drive around the area to different schools, Shane talks about an article that he read about her attending a conference in St. Louis;
15:15 - Allen says he was too short of breath to sing and couldn't perform in the quartet, She made Allen jog alongside her car to improve his breathing;
17:30 - Blanchet taught "danses rondes" during lent;
18:25 - Allen was drafted into the service in 1960 while he was in college, his parents didn't want him to go to college, so he paid his way;
19:30 - He worked two jobs and his grades eventually started dropping, was drafted since he didn't keep his grades up;
20:50 - Served in Turkey, says his French got him more places in Europe that French. Started learning basics to the Turkish language;
22:00 - European views of Americans;
23:00 - Being Cajun in the army;
24:25 - CODOFIL, KRVS;
26:50 - James Domengeaux, Dudley LeBlanc;
29:00 - Caricatures of the Cajun people;
30:00 - Discussion about Allen Babineaux's visit to France, his use of older French;

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Shane K. Bernard
Subject: 
French language; Education; Armed Services
Creator: 
Shane Bernard
Informants: 
Allen Simon
Recording date: 
Monday, September 15, 1997
Coverage Spatial: 
Abbeville, LA
Publisher: 
Shane K. Bernard
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
32:04
Cataloged Date: 
Monday, February 5, 2024
Digitized Date: 
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Original Format: 
Audio--Cassette--60
Digital Format: 
Audio
Bit Depth: 
16 bit
Sampling Rate: 
44.1k
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore