Por Que Tu No Sabes Nada

The heading of this blog entry translated to English is Why do you not know anything.

This saying was first started last year while I was in my first year teaching at the orphanage of Casa Guatemala. I do not remember the exact origin of what I did not know but the expression Por que tu no sabes nada started as a casual remark. It has grown into an epidemic so to speak. All 230 children now ask me this nearly daily. However, many have shortened the expression to only Por que. My standard answer is now Por que si; and then the children follow up with por que no; and ultimately I follow up with por que si es mejor que por que no--Because yes is better than no.

The expression Por Que has grown to be directed to nearly every teacher. Each teacher handles the expression differently. Some are aggravated by it; while others are amused by it. I have grown so accustomed to it that I will often direct the same question to the children before they direct their question to me.

This is certainly the case in my English classes where I now insist that any class work be done by answering Why or por que--Why does a verb act or need to act. I require this be answered in all English communication or they do not receive full credit for their work. What started as a joke of sorts has turned into a great lesson plan for me and subsequently helps the student think about the English they are trying to learn, and answer the why.

Namaste,

Chac