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Louisiana French is a unique language. It developed after the Colonial French, Acadians, Canadians/Non-Acadian, and other French groups came to Louisiana and lived among each other and other groups. Some Louisiana French words came from Native Americans. In some areas there is more of an Acadian influence, such as Vermilion Parish, and in other areas there is more of a Colonial French influence, such as Avoyelles and Evangeline. Several people and groups are encouraging the survival of the language: Codofil http://www.codofil.org/ and Action Cadienne http://www.actioncadienne.org/ are two of these groups.
The language is rare today due to older speakers not teaching it to their children; it's a common phenomenon where parents did not speak or teach their children like their parents and grandparents had done with them. It's a difficult task to learn and write the language because of the different regional dialects and because it was mainly an oral language.
Standard French was and is taught in several schools today but it is different from Louisiana French. Several books have been written to teach the language and audio media is also available. A dictionary of the Cajun language by Jules O. Daigle, The Cajun French language : volume 1 / by Raymond Lee Landreneau, Jr. = La langue cadjinne francaise / par Raymond Lee Landreneau, Jr are two books that instruct on how to speak and write in Cajun French. Cajun self-taught by Jules O. Daigle is available in print and audio. Amanda LaFleur's book, Tonnerre mes chiens! : glossary of Louisiana French figures of speech, is a collection of sayings that are humorous and educational. The collection was gathered from several South Louisiana Parishes.
There are also several children's books that contain Louisiana French words within them along with a story with South Louisiana themes: Feliciana meets d'Loup Garou : a Cajun tall tale / by Tynia Thomassie, Jacques et la canne à sucre : a Cajun Jack and the beanstalk / by Sheila Hébert-Collins, Feliciana Feydra LeRoux : a Cajun tall tale by Tynia Thomassie, and the Clovis Crawfish series by Mary Alice Fontenot are some these great children's books.
Visit your local library for these sources and others. We can also acquire material for you not found in our system via inter-library loan.