By james art 
The West Baton Rouge Museum will hold the first meeting of its Louisiana Creole Conversation Group on Saturday, November 2nd.
A new conversation group at the West Baton Rouge Museum will give Louisiana Creole speakers an opportunity to speak their native language and invite others to learn more about Louisiana Creole culture.
Kafé Kréyol, which welcomes all skill levels, will hold its first meeting from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday in a classroom at the Port Allen Museum and continue on the first Saturday of each month. Talk host Henry Johnson said the group shows how Louisiana Creole has become more visible and even institutionalized in recent years.
“It really shows how far we’ve come,” Johnson said. “It shows how persistent we are as a people, as a cultural group, that we now have areas where we can speak, learn and teach about our language in public.”
Fewer than 10,000 people are estimated to speak Louisiana Creole, according to the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures.
The group will offer an educational atmosphere as well as coffee and snacks, Johnson said. In the first meeting, he will introduce basic words and correct misconceptions about the language, such as the assumption that Louisiana Creole is the same as Haitian Creole.
The West Baton Rouge Museum also hosts a Café Français for French speakers. With the introduction of Kafé Kréyol, Louisiana Creole speakers will now also have a place to speak the “language of their childhood,” Johnson said.
“Because it means a lot to them, it means a lot to me, and overall I think it should mean a lot to all of us as a whole,” Johnson said. “Times have changed and we can get these things back and I’m happy about that.”
The event is free and does not require registration.