Dianne Solis served as editor. By Alyssa Cruz
Justin Delgado considers himself to be Latino. He grew up traveling to Puerto Rico, where his parents are from. The dark-haired, dark-eyed 21-year-old is not fluent in Spanish.
Delgado is among the hundreds of persons who have been referred to as “no sabo kids,” who are typically the offspring or grandchildren of natural Spanish speakers. Based on the erroneous method to phrase “I don’t know” in Spanish, the name is a word play. Since to know, orsaber, is an irregular verb, the proper form is No s.
No sabo began as an insult, according to Muriel Gallego, a native Spanish speaker and associate professor of applied linguistics-Spanish at Ohio University. However, that guilt has given way to more critical analyses of identity and what it means to be Latino or Latina.
According to her, the more generations separate from their grandparents or the first generation to arrive who spoke only Spanish, the less shame there will be for not using good Spanish. It’s where I believe the most of the humiliation originates. “Oh, you don’t know,” the older [generations] of theabuelas remark.
Justin Delgado when visiting Puerto Rico with his family.The image is from Justin Delgado.
Although the word “No sabo” was once used as a demeaning slur, many Latinos are now wearing it as a badge of honor, changing the perception.With the tag “no sabo kid,” TikTokalone has over 67.4 million posts. According to Delgado, people assume that saying “no sabo” equals “no culture,” but that is just untrue.
Indeed, 72% of U.S. Hispanics aged 5 and older spoke only English at home or spoke English very well in 2021, up from 65% in 2010, according to Pew Research Center data.
Everybody has a different experience learning a language, and Delgado is no different.
His father’s family participated in the massive Puerto Rican migration to New York City, while his mother was born in Puerto Rico. While attending the University of Puerto Rico, the couple got to know one another. The pair then relocated to the United States.
Due to his father’s military assignment, Delgado, who was born in Georgia, moved to Ramstein, Germany, when he was three years old. Delgado spent much of his time with his mother, who knew Spanish, because his father was on active service.
He remarked, “My mom didn’t know English on that base.” She and I began studying English together at that time, when I was quite young. She said, “We both got to learn English because she’s by herself,” rather than teaching me all of Spanish.
The family relocated to Enterprise, Alabama, following deployment. In addition to attending a private Christian school, there were few opportunities for him to learn Spanish. At that school, I was the only person of color.
After many relocations, the family finally settled in Virginia, close to Arlington. He tried Spanish in high school because of the city’s variety, which was reinforced by a motivational trip to Puerto Rico to visit relatives. “Dude, you need to learn Spanish,” they would say.
He stated I had to get back in touch with my roots.
Delgado finished his internship in Quito, Ecuador, last summer. Before departing for Ecuador, Delgado said he and his mother were thrilled that he would be able to spend the entire summer practicing his Spanish and immersing himself in a Latino culture.
During his stay in Ecuador, Delgado was employed by the multimedia group Compciencia, which aimed to raise awareness of environmental and social issues. In the Amazon Rainforest, he assisted with photo editing and video production initiatives.
Delgado was now exposed in a Latino culture around-the-clock in addition to gaining skills to advance his career.
Delgado claimed that although his coworkers occasionally made fun of him for his Spanish, it was always done out of affection.
When they called me the “no sabo kid,” I initially thought, “What the f?” But then I understood that they didn’t intend it maliciously because, as he stated, that’s who I am.
When Justin Delgado visited Quito, Ecuador, he saw Ecuadorian llamas.The image is from Justin Delgado.
The linguist Gallego even asked what constitutes proper Spanish.
Since we are the language’s proprietors, what constitutes proper Spanish? “We make that decision,” she stated.
According to Gallego, enforcing proper Spanish can backfire.
After they get home, they claim that the instructor was incorrect and that the mother, who is undocumented and may be working [on] a farm, said, “Oh, the teacher might be right, so we are in the wrong,” and they cease using it, correct? Or they quit studying Spanish.
Carlos Torres identified with the phrase “No sabo” as well. Torres, a native of Los Angeles, was brought up by his Mexican immigrant mother. Her son claimed that because she was a single mother, she neglected to teach him her native tongue.
According to Torres, my mother was an immigrant who had to work, so language wasn’t a top concern for her. She just completed middle school in Mexico, and she was really interested in me learning the language so that I could instruct her.
Torres, now 32, claimed that he did not become committed to learning Spanish to the fullest extent until after graduating from college and during the coronavirus pandemic. He claimed that he frequently asked his wife Jess how to say particular things because she always had a larger knowledge in Spanish. It became customary to ask, “C mo se dice?” It gave rise to the concept of Yo Sabo.
Carlos Torres and Jess Torres created Yo Sabo.Alyssa Cruz took the picture for Palabra.
Three different card types make up the Yo Sabo deck: Chancla, Prueba, and C mo se dice? Most of the cards are C mo se dice?, which has an English word at the bottom and its Spanish equivalent. The majority of the vocabulary are nouns, and they range from jaundice to raccoon.
Torres stated, “I know I’m not the only one struggling with this, so we got to make a game out of it.” In order to encourage hesitant people to practice their Spanish and be open to making mistakes, we wanted to find out how we could test and develop our Spanish in an enjoyable way.
The duo was able to start production and develop the game’s mechanics with the assistance of a visual designer. They sold out of the first 500 games they printed in 2022. More than 22,000 games have been sold, according to Torres.
According to Torres, who co-created the game, “no sabo” has such a negative meaning. We intended to include the twist that said, “Yo sabo.”People made that error in order to feel empowered.
The put-down’s flip side is praised.
There s the other side of the coin, which is something that happened historically with these mock names, which is now people are reclaiming it, and so that offensive meaning kind of washes out, Gallego said.
The squad used their social media prowess to try to make their game more widely known. The game has 25,000 Instagram followers and more than 122,000 TikTok followers. Through the accounts, the couple hosts lightning rounds, where they rotate through theC mo se dice?cards with self-proclaimed no sabos.
Torres said social media has really helped them elevate their brand. He detailed how the game has provided new perspectives about the different barriers many Latinos face against learning Spanish.
The more we ve sold and the more we ve connected with other families, we ve learned so much about how in some places it was literally illegal to speak Spanish and you were reprimanded for speaking the language, Torres said.
Regardless of different circumstances, Delgado, Gallego and Torres all emphasized that knowing Spanish does not equate to latinidad.
What makes you Latino? Gallego, the linguistics professor, asked. You decide.
