Learn the Spanish
of Louisiana
Explore Isleño Spanish — an endangered Louisiana dialect — through songs, stories, and the living archive of the Décima tradition. Four free, web-based modules for Spanish learners of all levels.
Browse ModulesWhat is the
Décima Project?
The Louisiana Décima Project preserves and celebrates Isleño Spanish — a dialect brought to Louisiana by Canary Island settlers in the late 18th century and spoken today primarily in St. Bernard Parish. Through archival recordings, community interviews, and oral poetry traditions like the décima, this project documents a language and culture at risk of disappearing.
These educational modules draw on that living archive to give Spanish learners direct, meaningful contact with Louisiana's diverse Spanish-language traditions. Each module pairs linguistic content with authentic cultural materials: field recordings, song lyrics, vocabulary from the community, and first-person accounts from Isleño speakers.
The curriculum is developed under the auspices of Public Ethnomusicology. For questions, collaboration inquiries, or to use these materials in a classroom setting, please get in touch.
Course Modules
All 4 availableCasa de Cosas Locas
A Mad Libs-style fill-in-the-blank adventure in Isleño Spanish
Décima de Titico
Allegar a la Louisiana — learning through the living song tradition
Different Destinies of Wila
Exploring verb forms, songs, and the stories of Isleño life
Cantos Locos
Write your own décima verses and record your performance
Questions?
Get in touch.
Whether you're an educator wanting to use these materials in a course, a researcher with interest in Louisiana Spanish, or a community member with connections to the Isleño tradition — we'd love to hear from you.
MacCurdy, Los Isleños de la Luisiana
Louisiana Décima Project archive