Louisiana French

“After that it has all been lagniappe,” Jordan added, using a Louisiana French Creole word for a bonus, or extra gift.

"I’m from South Louisiana, French Cajun heritage. And I have this weird last name. In fact, he gave me another name, Richard Keith, for the show. Because he didn’t think that anybody could pronounce 'Thibodeaux,' which they couldn’t at that point. I think the Cuban culture and the Southern Louisiana Cajun culture have similarities in terms of family and culture. So not only did we connect rhythmically but on a personal level too."

It also will further the Escadrille Louisiane program, a teacher training program designed to help Louisiana build a cadre of native Louisiana French language teachers in the immersion programs.

“It’s always a tossup and a gamble,” said Ms. Marceaux, a teacher and the frontwoman of the band Sweet Crude, which performs in Louisiana French.

It is estimated that the number of people who speak Louisiana French dialects at home once numbered at about 1 million in 1970, according to Joseph Dunn, the former director of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana.