Wisconsin Life

(trumpet music) Almost every married couple communicates in their own personal language, developed through years of shared experiences. For Emma and Auguste, that language also happens to be how they met and fell in love, nearly four decades ago. In 1975, Emma was widowed and living in Sturgeon Bay. Auguste was divorced and living with his parents in Belgium, the country in Europe, not the Village of Belgium in Ozaukee County. A friend convinced him to take a trip to America, even though he did not speak English. (Emma speaking Walloon) Auguste grew up speaking French and Walloon. The trip was part of an ongoing cultural exchange between Walloon-speaking Belgians and Walloon-speaking Americans in northeast Wisconsin. (Emma laughs) Once in Wisconsin, Auguste ended up staying at the house of a family that did not speak Walloon, but the family knew Emma, who had grown up with the language. She said, "That does it. "You're going to come over for dinner one night "and translate." They hit it off immediately. (laughs) I was going to say, I guess he was my dessert. Born in 1922, Emma's first language was Walloon. The Walloon language was being spoken by everybody maybe at that time. In the 1850s, thousands of Belgians emigrated to northeast Wisconsin in search of cheap land. Many of them settled in small communities like Fairland and Brussels in Door County. -

Emma

This is my grandfather that came from Belgium. Like most immigrants, they brought their own language and religious traditions. And like most immigrant groups those traditions faded a little with each new generation. Her parents knew a little English. My father had a grocery store, so of course he had to mingle with more people. But my mother knew English, but broken English. Emma started learning English from her older sisters. But they had to speak English because they were in school. As she went to school, Walloon started to disappear. Then it got to the point where the Walloons were a little embarrassed to speak Walloon in public. By 1975, Emma's Walloon was a little rusty. I didn't forget it except I really broke it up when I tried talking it. Her relationship with Auguste was often translated through three languages. And this French dictionary book that he had with him, we took every place except to church. And we went for fish every Friday night. That book had to be with us because if he would say something in French, it would tell me what he said in English. And so then I'd take it from there and try to think of it in Walloon. When Auguste returned to Belgium, he invited Emma to visit him. I'll never get the red carpet like that again. Auguste came back to the United States at Christmas and stayed. -I said,"He forgot to go home." (laughs) And then we were married in March. I said, "Boy, I hardly knew the guy." And I think I'll keep him for a while yet. Like every married couple, they have their disagreements over language, like how to pronounce their last name, spelled H-A-Y-O-T. -

Auguste

Eye-O. -

Emma

Not me. How do you say it? -

Emma

I say it Hay-ott. I say it the way it's written because when he first came and he said, "Eye-O." I said, "You know that song 'E-I-E-I-O'?" I said, "I'm not going to have people thinking I'm E-I-E-I-O." Auguste is an American now. He became a US citizen and he enjoys watching soccer and football. I never miss one game of the Packers, no way, oh no. But he still holds a fondness for his native land shown by their large flag of Wallonia. Le coq Walloon. They both fear the Walloon language will eventually be gone. A book about Walloons in Wisconsin, with them on the cover, is written in English and French. Written Walloon is almost non-existent. Not many can speak the language anymore. There are very few. In Belgium, too. - In Belgium, too. (speaking in Walloon) -At first, Emma appeared willing to let the language die. She learned it from her parents, but she didn't teach it to her girls. See the only time that my late husband and I would speak Walloon was at Christmastime so the girls wouldn't know what Santa Claus was going to bring. That's the only time we spoke it. That's why she was so excited to learn her oldest daughter could at least understand the language. I've talked to her in Walloon and she answered me in English. (gasps) The language she almost forgot now helps define her identity. Oh, as I get older, it's getting more important. I mean it.