I don't think it's inherently derogatory, if you look it up the term has been picked up affectionately by the "kids" themselves and mostly shows up in (very cringey) TikTok videos making fun of their own dichotomy. Also in a few subreddits, in the form of people wanting to learn the language and/or being insecure about their heritage.Proud "no sabo" here, I guess*; never heard that term, but I fit the description. My dad is from Panama, and he said he tried to teach me when I was younger, but he said I refused to learn. He said I got frustrated trying to learn other words for words I already knew. I took it in high school, however, and became functionally fluent; my senior year of high school, I took an AP course at The Ohio State University that was taught from day 1 in Spanish, but I could never hold a conversation with my dad speaking truly fluent, non-instructional Spanish. Came home one day and tried to engage my dad and his brother to show them how proud I was I could speak it, and they laughed, said I sounded like a "gringo." Went off to college and into the workforce where my Spanish atrophied almost immediately. I can still understand a lot of it, and using context can piece together intent, but speaking it, let's just say I'd need more than a few refresher courses to get back to where I once was.
*(Curious, is "no sabo kid" considered a derogatory term?)
Looking at a YouTube search right now: "What are "No Sabo Kids" and how do they speak Spanish?", "No Sabo Kids reclaiming heritage by learning Spanish", "Reportaje especial: esta es la generación No Sabo Kid", etc. And from Reddit: "Any no sabo kids reach fluency?", "No sabo kid visiting Mexico; nervous to speak Spanish", "I'm a no sabo kid and I figured out my biggest issue", etc. Looks fine to me.
Most of Latin America thinks of all US citizens as gringos anyway; "Mexican-American" equals gringo just as an "American-Japanese" would be called gaijin in Japan. Whether they can even speak the language or what's their cultural backstory doesn't really matter.
For what it's worth I don't think learning Spanish as an adult will never not sound gringo, and you shouldn't be discouraged by not nailing the diction and pronounciation of a native speaker. It's cool enough if you're interested in learning the language and can make a little progress over time.
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