Happy Birthday (Ecuadorian style)
Maybe I should have written "Latin American" style in the title of this entry. Probably, the problem we have is also a problem in other Spanish-speaking countries, but I can't really tell for sure (never heard any Guatemalan singing Happy Birthday, anyway).
It happens that in Ecuador we celebrate birthdays by singing "Happy Birthday" and after that "Feliz Cumpleaños". First in English then in Spanish. Just like in the movies we gather around a birthday cake and sing to whoever has turned a year older that day. It's a tradition, but that doesn't mean we do it the right way. The problem is most people mispronounce the TH in BIRTHDAY, so what we actually say is HAPPY BIRD DAY.
Another variation is HAPPY BEAR DAY. Once somewhere, on some occasion I would like to forget, I heard somebody singing HAPPY BABY! (I can assure you there was no baby around then and there). Surely, we do these things inadvertently, but they are also an indicator that in general, our English level is perhaps less than basic. Someone is not doing their job properly and until something is done, Ecuadorians at least will keep singing there is a day of the Happy Bear or Bird or even Baby (though really there's nothing wrong with birds, bears, or babies having a day of their own, is there?).
On second thought, perhaps I was overgeneralizing when I said this situation might be happening in other Latin American countries, as well. Mexicans for instance, do not really sing "Cumpleaños Feliz". They prefer "Las Mañanitas"!
Comments
So, I made a little research and found out that, indeed, it comes from North America. The song’s melody originated from a school teachers’ greeting song titled “Good Morning to All”, composed by American sisters Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893, although this accreditation has been questioned. Then it became the "Happy Birthday" song, sang in birthday celebrations until today.
So, yes. This means that we, Latin Americans, took this song and translated it into Spanish only to sing it in English AGAIN. We are hilarious. And, on top of that, we mispronounce it in the weirdest ways.
It is true, many people make mistakes when they want to speak in English without knowing English, it has happened to me with several friends and even with my family. I know that not all of them have knowledge of English like we do because they did not have the same education as us and because life was more complex in those times. It bothers me when someone speaks poor English but I understand that that person is doing the best they can, so there I understand their situation a little.
It is absolutely true when he sings the birthday when he pronounces it wrong, but in the same way it is fun to sing it like that, it is difficult to correct other people for some how they take it the wrong way.
Even I have pronounced it wrong, even knowing how to say it, but it is unconscious.
On the other hand, the melody of the "happy birthday song" is an replicate of the song "Good morning to all" by the composer Mildred Hill.
Many people don't know the English language or something like that, they're not learners of this language and for that reason is that we listen these kinds of things when people sing this song (happy birthday).
Thanks for sharing this article with us.
Happy baby jajajajaja maybe I don't pronounce well ''TH'' but when I sing for a birthday I have never been wrong with that. I remembered When I was in high school the English teacher told us words about things we do in our daily life and we had to write them down because it was a listening exercise.She said the word ''take a shower'' and my friend wrote down baby shower,He was the only person who wrote down that Word.
Nowadays it occurs to me when I sing songs.
It is true that some people mispronounce "Happy birthday because they do not know the correct pronunciation but we must teach them so that everyone can sing well.