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Louisiana
 
Travel America

Learn before you travel. This section of Fun Easy English focuses on facts and other cool stuff about your favorite U.S. state. This is great English reading practice. This page focuses on the state of Louisiana.
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Louisiana

Situated in the Deep South, Louisiana, the "Pelican State," has a colorful history and was named in honor of King Louis XIV. A strong French influence is still evident throughout the state--its capital city is named Baton Rouge, French for "red stick," because the French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville visited the area in 1699 and observed a red cypress post. Today the city of New Orleans is known for its Mardi Gras and jazz festivals.
Flag of LouisianaLouisiana State Flag


The state flag of Louisiana displays a white pelican nurturing its young by tearing at its own breast (signified by three drops of blood), with a white banner below containing the state motto in blue letters (Union, Justice, and Confidence); all on a field of blue.

Flags and heraldic symbols sometimes stray from the facts - pelicans are known for their attentive nurturing of chicks, but do not really tear at themselves to feed them (self-preservation is the norm in nature, not self-sacrifice). Mark Shields, author of the Brown Pelican account for Birds of North America (BNA) Online (the definitive source for scientific information about our birds) says:

"Pelicans do NOT tear at their own flesh to feed their young. This legend, which has taken on some religious significance as a symbol of self-sacrifice, dates back to at least medieval times. It may have begun as a result of misinterpretation of normal feeding behavior, in which the parent holds it bill down along its breast as young reach in to take fish from the parent's bill or pouch. The truth is that pelican parents, facing starvation, would abandon their young and save themselves."

The pelican has been a symbol of Louisiana since colonial times. The pelican is found on Louisiana's state seal, state painting, and is one of three Louisiana symbols that appear on the U.S. Mint's Louisiana bicentennial quarter. Ten very different flags have flown over Louisiana:

Spanish Flag of Leone & Castile
French Fleur-de-Lis (LaSalle) [1682]
British Grand Union [1763]
Bourbon Spain [1769]
French Tri-Color [1803]
U.S. Flag of 15 Stars [1803]
West Florida Lone Star
Independent Louisiana (1861)
Confederate Flag (1861)
Louisiana Flag [1912]

Pledge to Louisiana Flag

Louisiana officially recognized a state pledge in 1981:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the state of Louisiana
and to the motto for which it stands:
A state, under God, united in purpose and ideals,
confident that justice shall prevail
for all of those abiding here.
Source: State Symbols USA
 
The great seal of the state of LouisianaLouisiana State Facts

Picture: state seal of Louisiana
State Capital Baton Rouge
Nickname Pelican State
Motto Union, justice, and confidence
Statehood April 30, 1812 (18th)
Origin of Name Named in honor of France's King Louis XIV.
Largest Cities New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, Kenner
Border States Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas
Area 43,566 sq. mi.; 33rd largest
State Bird Eastern Brown Pelican
State Flower Magnolia (magnolia)
State Tree Bald Cypress (taxodium distichum)
State Song Give Me Louisiana
Map showing the location of LouisianaTravel and tourism site for Louisiana - This state travel and territorial tourism site provides ideas for your vacations, meetings, and more.
Louisiana Stories
 
Natchitoches Christmas Festival

Have you ever seen a fireworks display at Christmas time?

In Natchitoches, Louisiana, Christmas celebrations include fireworks, a parade, and the Festival of Lights. This festival started in the 1920s, when the city's new chief electrician got the idea that stringing Christmas lights along Front Street would be a nice Christmas present from the Power & Light Department to the citizens of the town. Local businesses donated money for the lights, and every year since then the light show has expanded with more lights and events to celebrate the Christmas season. In the late 1930s, the town started the fireworks displays and soon thereafter started to hold parades, including a parade of Christmas-decorated barges on the Cane River. The children's parade was started in the 1970s.

In addition to all the entertainment festival-goers can eat the highly popular Natchitoches meat pie. Food vendors also offer crawfish pies, funnel cakes, alligator, and other festival food. As one festival-goer put it, "If it swims, flies, hops, or crawls, you can find it there, deep-fried and on a stick."
 
Louisiana French Music: The Heart & Soul of Acadiana

Louisiana French music is a blend of many influences. Cajuns are descendants of French Catholics who settled in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada, in the 1600s (during this time, Nova Scotia was called Acadia). These Acadians brought their French folk music with them, mostly ballads and instrumental music for dancing, which they loved to do. Their favorite instrument was the fiddle because it was loud enough to be heard over dancers' shuffling feet.

In the 1750s, the British took over Acadia, and the Acadians were forced to leave. Many escaped to Louisiana, where other French-speaking people already lived. The people from Canada were known as "Cajuns" (if you leave off the "A" in Acadian, and say "Cadian" rapidly, it sounds like "Cajun"). The Cajuns took up farming, trapping, and fishing, often living in isolated swamp areas. Their music was influenced by their new Spanish, German, African, Celtic, Native American, and Caribbean neighbors, who also made Louisiana their home. By the 1920s, accordions became popular, and they were also used in Cajun and Creole music because they were loud and could be easily heard.

Today, Cajun music is popular not only in Louisiana but also nationwide. Cajun music is distinctively American because America is one of the few places in the world where so many people of different heritages settled. This mix of people is what makes our nation's culture so interesting.
 
"Fat Tuesday" in Louisiana

What city has the most famous "Fat Tuesday" celebration?
New Orleans.

Mardi Gras, which is French for "Fat Tuesday," is a big festival that takes place the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent -- a symbolic period of fasting and penance for many Christians. The two weeks before "Fat Tuesday" are the most festive. Local carnival organizations called "krewes," the first of which dates to 1857, hold almost nonstop balls and parades. Individuals, given the honor of riding on elaborately decorated floats in the parade, wear theme costumes and throw bead necklaces and other trinkets to spectators. A French phrase that is often used during these festivities is Laissez les bon temps rouler! or "Let the good times roll!"

The melding of many heritages, such as Spanish, French, English, and African American, has created a unique culture in New Orleans -- a place famous for its rich musical tradition, its distinction of being the birthplace of jazz, its food and its colorful Mardi Gras celebrations.
 
Louisiana Folklife Festival

Louisiana has a heritage of many cultures, nationalities and ethnic groups, including Cajuns and Creoles. Do you know where Cajuns came from? The Cajuns in Louisiana are descendants of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Acadia is an early name for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The Acadians were expelled after the French lost the colony in 1755. A Creole is a person of mixed French or Spanish and African descent.

In Monroe, Louisiana, each September, visitors can see all kinds of traditional Louisiana crafts, hear music and storytelling, watch dancing and try local foods at the Louisiana Folklife Festival. There's even a Kids Stage, where young people perform.

Because of Louisiana's location by the Gulf of Mexico, seafood is easily available. Seafood is used in many of the dishes that can be sampled at the Festival, whether cooked in a Native American, Creole, Cajun, or African American style. In addition to location, history has played a big role in the foods of Louisiana. The state that is now Louisiana has been a territory of France, Spain, and Great Britain, and was even briefly an independent country! Have you ever eaten such spicy, delicious seafood creations as gumbo, jambalaya or crawfish boil? If you have the opportunity, try some!
 
Indians in Louisiana: The Poverty Point Site

Why would anyone build mounds of earth 7 miles long?

In the case of Poverty Point, in northeastern Louisiana, no one knows for sure. In some states, like Ohio, Native American people built mounds as burial places. Archaeologists suspect that the mounds at Poverty Point served as sites for dwellings, but they are not certain. Native American culture in the Poverty Point area began almost 4,000 years ago, and the mounds were built between 1750 and 1350 B.C.

The mounds are six giant half-circles in the shape of a bull's-eye, almost three-fourths of a mile wide. If you straightened out the six mounds and laid them out end-to-end, they would stretch for 7 miles. Archaeologists believe the 37-acre central plaza formed by the mounds may have been used for religious and other public ceremonies.

Although archaeologists have not found any articles of clothing from these ancient people, they have found jewelry. The great variety of this jewelry, from simple to elaborate, indicates that social status was important in the Poverty Point community. Overall, Poverty Point presents evidence that ancient Americans lived in sophisticated communities. Even so, this does not help to solve the mystery of exactly what these mounds were. Do you have any other ideas?
 
Mardi Gras Season in New Orleans

Do you celebrate Fat Tuesday? If you live in New Orleans, Louisiana, or any place else along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, you probably do.

Every year, the people of New Orleans celebrate Mardi Gras, which is French for "Fat Tuesday." This holiday is the day before Ash Wednesday, and it begins a season of fasting, called Lent, for many Christians leading up to Easter Sunday. It's called Fat Tuesday because it's the last day that many people eat meat and fatty foods before Lent begins.

Today, Mardi Gras season in New Orleans is a time of merry-making and festivity. Many clubs in the city, called krewes (pronounced "crews"), sponsor extravagant parades and masked balls in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. It's a lot of fun to try to catch the trinkets that are thrown to the crowds from the parade floats. Every krewe has a king and queen, whose identities are kept secret until the night of the ball. It's all part of the fun and mystery of Mardi Gras.
 
Isleños Society of St. Bernard Parish

Did you know that part of Louisiana used to be owned by Spain? In 1766, after the French and Indian War, France gave Louisiana to Spain and Great Britain. Spain controlled the part of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River and the Island of Orleans. But when the Spanish learned that the British wanted to invade their part of the province, they decided that more people needed to live there to protect the area.

Spain turned to its colonies in the Canary Islands to find people to move to Louisiana. The Canary Islands, located off the coast of Africa, were the first colonial territory of the Spanish Empire and Christopher Columbus's last stop before discovering the New World. The people who lived there were called Canary Islanders, or Isleños (pronounced ees-lane-yos), and they settled Louisiana between 1778 and 1783.

When the Isleños moved to Louisiana, they settled in four areas around New Orleans to protect the city. St. Bernard Parish, just five miles from downtown New Orleans, was settled in 1799. It was the most successful settlement, and it still maintains a unique Spanish identity. (In Louisiana, counties are called "parishes.") The Isleños also brought their culture with them. Their lives revolved mainly around family and the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1980, the Isleños Society of St. Bernard Parish founded the Los Isleños Museum to preserve Louisiana's disappearing Spanish culture. The elderly Isleños still speak a very old type of Spanish, brought to Louisiana more than two centuries ago. More than 200 Isleños have been interviewed and recorded in this old-style Spanish, and these tapes have been collected by the museum.
Source: Library of Congress
National Forests and Monuments of Louisiana

The following is a description of national forests and monuments in the state of Louisiana. There are no national parks in this state. If you plan to visit or live in Louisiana for awhile then you should definitely plan to visit some of these fantastic places.
 
National Forests
Kisatchie

Kisatchie is Louisiana's only National Forest, covering old-growth pine forest and bald cypress groves in the bayous. There are 48 mammal species, 56 reptiles, 30 amphibians, and 155 breeding or over wintering birds in this forest.
 
National Monuments
Poverty Point

Poverty Point is a prehistoric archeological site that dates from between 1650 and 700 BC and consisting of six earthen rings and seven mounds. The diameter of the outside ridge is 0.75 miles (1.21 km), and the largest mound rises 51 feet (16 m). It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2014.
 
Travel America
 
 
 
Cool America
About the U.S.A.

About the U.S.A. is an American Studies reader that examines the customs, government, and history of the United States of America. The text provides a wealth of information on U.S. geography and history; the roles of local, state, and federal government; national holidays and symbols; the Constitution; and citizenship. The book, which was written for intermediate to advanced learners of English, contains a range of activities for language students to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (opens to a new PDF window) Great English reading practice.
About America

Learn about the fascinating history and government of the United States of America. Lessons include content on American Government, American History, and Integrated Civics. Handouts with interactive games and student-centered activities encompass all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Great English reading practice for beginning to intermediate students.
American Teens Talk!

Americans Teens Talk! is a collection of interviews of American high school students. Each interview is accompanied by vocabulary notes and discussion questions. The interviews in American Teens Talk! give learners a view into the lives of adolescents in the U.S. Through the written format of the interviews, learners are able to increase their vocabulary, practice their reading and listening skills, engage in discussions, and learn more about U.S. culture. These interviews come with audio programs. Great English listening and reading
Sing Out Loud Children's Songs

Sing Out Loud Children's Songs includes popular children's songs in the U.S.A. Posters accompany the individual Sing Out Loud Children's Songs. These songs come with audio programs. Great English listening and reading practice.
Sing Out Loud Traditional Songs

The Sing Out Loud Traditional Songs collection contains 13 traditional American folk songs and song lyrics. Listen to the songs online, read the lyrics, and collect the posters that accompany the songs. These songs come with audio programs. Great English listening and reading practice.
Sing Out Loud American Rhythms

Do you love music? Want to use it to learn English? Check out the hip-hop inspired song "Peace" from Sing Out Loud American Rhythms. American Rhythms includes a variety of musical genres from many different artists in the U.S.A. These songs will appeal to teens and young adults. These songs come with audio programs. Great English listening and reading practice.
Route 66 - Famous American Road

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California, near Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.
Route 66: The Highway That's the Best
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
Chicago: The Start of Route 66
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
Going West for Decades on Route 66
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
Arizona: The Spirit of Route 66
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
Route 66 California: The End of the Trail
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
Ten Must-See Route 66 Attractions
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
Four Famous Foods On Route 66
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
International Tourists Drawn to Route 66
(Beginner - Listening)

A video lesson which shows you an interesting place in America.
The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Great English listening practice.
This video shows travel along Route 66, the most famous road in America.
 
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