Cajun French Translator

What is Cajun French?

Cajun French is the French spoken in South Louisiana by the Cajuns, descendants of the Acadians who were expelled from Canada’s Maritime provinces in the 1750s. It is part of Louisiana French, alongside Louisiana Creole, and it has its own words, sounds and grammar that set it apart from the French of France or Quebec.

You hear it in Cajun and zydeco music, at a fais do-do (a dance party) and in phrases known across the US, like “laissez les bons temps rouler” (let the good times roll). Cajun French says asteur for “now”, icitte for “here” and char for “car”, and often uses on or nous-autres for “we”.

This translator turns English into Cajun French with real Louisiana vocabulary, conjugated verbs and adjectives that agree with their nouns.

How to use the Cajun French translator

1. Type or paste English. Up to 500 characters per translation on the free credits: a name, a motto, a message or a short passage.
2. Pick the direction. English → Cajun French is the default. Press ⇄ to read Cajun French words back into English.
3. Press Translate (or Ctrl + Enter). The result appears at once, with a reading line where the script needs one.
4. Listen. Press 🔊 Listen to hear it. Where your device has no voice for this language, it reads the transliteration with the closest voice and says “approximate”.
5. Copy it and read the notes under the result: they name any word we kept in English.

How the Cajun French translator works

This translator runs on our own server from a Cajun French dictionary and a set of grammar rules written for this language. It does not send your text to an outside service or an AI model, so results are instant and the same every time. The dictionary holds 5,679 words, 94 set phrases and 1,156 conjugated verbs. Its everyday vocabulary is drawn from the FreeDict English–French dictionary, matched to the English words people use most, and checked against our own hand-written core dictionary, which always takes priority.

For each sentence it first looks for the longest known phrase, then translates word by word and applies the rules below:

• Louisiana French words such as asteur (now), icitte (here), char (car)
• on for “we”, as Cajun speakers say it: on danse
• le, la and les by gender, adjectives after the noun, and elision (j’aime, l’église)
• verbs conjugated for the subject

Examples: real Cajun French output

These results come straight from the tool, unedited:

Names, and any word the dictionary does not have, are kept as you wrote them and listed in the notes, so you never get an invented word.

Is this the best Cajun French translator?

Google Translate writes the French of France, not Louisiana French. General AI chatbots can produce text that looks right but contains invented words. This tool takes the opposite approach: every word comes from a checked dictionary entry, every ending from a written rule, and anything unknown is flagged instead of guessed. Short phrases, names, mottos and greetings come out best. For long passages, poetry or anything permanent such as a tattoo, use the result as a solid first draft and have it checked by someone who reads the language.

Common Cajun French words and phrases

Everyday Cajun French, with notes on how it differs from standard French.

History and origins

French settlers founded Acadia in what is now Nova Scotia in 1604. When Britain took control, it deported thousands of Acadians between 1755 and 1764 in what they call le Grand Dérangement. Many eventually reached Spanish Louisiana, where “Acadien” became “Cadien” and then “Cajun”.

In Louisiana their French mixed with the French of earlier colonists, Spanish, African languages, Native American languages and later English. In 1921 the Louisiana constitution required schools to teach in English only, and children were punished for speaking French. Since 1968, the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) has worked to bring it back.

Writing system

Cajun French uses the standard French alphabet and accents (é, è, ê, ç). Because it was mostly spoken, spelling varies: you may see “asteur” or “à c’t’heure”, “icitte” or “ici”. The Dictionary of Louisiana French (2010) records the main spellings.

How Cajun French sounded

Cajun French drops many final sounds and runs words together: “je suis” often sounds like “chu”. The r is often rolled or tapped, and English rhythm has crept into the speech of many speakers. “Cher” is said “sha”, and “comment ça va” can sound like “kômañ sa va”.

Famous texts

• Cajun songs such as “Jolie Blonde”, sometimes called the Cajun national anthem.
• Folk tales of Bouki and Lapin (Hyena and Rabbit).
• The work of Cajun poets such as Barry Jean Ancelet (Jean Arceneaux).

Is Cajun French still used today?

Yes, though by fewer people each generation. The US Census counts around 100,000 people in Louisiana who speak French at home, many of them older. French immersion schools in Lafayette and other parishes are now raising a new generation of speakers.

How to learn Cajun French

Listen to Cajun music and radio programmes in French, such as those on KRVS in Lafayette. The Dictionary of Louisiana French and the course Ma Louisiane are good starting points, and CODOFIL lists classes and immersion events.

Before you use a translation for a tattoo, motto or gift

• Cajun is not “wrong French”. Words like asteur and icitte are old French forms that survived in Louisiana.
• Gender matters. French nouns are masculine or feminine, and adjectives change to match: un bon gombo, une belle fille.
• Check spellings for signs and shirts; many Cajun words have more than one accepted spelling.

Sources

Albert Valdman and Kevin J. Rottet (eds.), Dictionary of Louisiana French (2010); CODOFIL; Barry Jean Ancelet, Cajun and Creole Folktales (1994).