HAPPY NEW YEAR! What to say and do: expressions, customs, vocabulary 🎉

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid,

and today we're doing a special lesson on celebrating the New Year.

So, let's get rid of these colourful decorations and get started.

Okay, so first of all, I know there are all kinds of New Years.

Right?

There are religious New Years, there are national New Years, but in today's lesson we're going

to focus on the New Year that starts on January 1st, which is considered the calendar New

Year or the Western New Year, or the Gregorian calendar New Year.

Okay?

So, let's first understand the terms.

All right?

So, January 1st is considered New Year's Day.

December 31st, the day before that and the year before that is considered New Year's Eve.

Now, when we say "eve" it means the day before, the evening before, the day before.

For example, if Christmas is on December 25th, Christmas Eve is December 24th.

So when we have the word "eve", it's always the day before.

Okay?

All right.

So, what I'm going to explain today is how we celebrate the New Year in many English-speaking

countries, some of the customs and traditions that we follow, and also some of the things

that we say.

How do we wish people?

How do you greet people? Right?

And also some of the things...

Special things that you do.

All right.

So, first let's talk about some of the things that people normally do on December 31st,

which is the day when we actually start celebrating and then we go into the New Year.

Okay?

So, what do we do?

We get all dressed up.

It's usually a very fun time.

It's a very fun time, it's a very special time.

And it's also a very meaningful time because the New Year represents a fresh start,

a new page, a new chapter in your life.

Okay?

A chance to do new things, to have new plans, and so on.

So it's considered a very special time, people are usually very excited because we all like

to have another chance at getting things right in our life, or improving ourselves or improving our life.

And that's what New Year's represents to lots of people.

So, this is what they do.

Usually this is what we do.

We dress up in our fancy clothes, many people.

It's very, very popular to go to parties.

Now, these parties can be of all kinds.

You could have a small party at home with just your family and friends, you could have

a medium-sized party where you go to a restaurant or a club and they are having a special kind

of a celebration for the New Year, and maybe they have a lot of TVs on where they're watching

New Year's celebrations in different parts of the world.

Or you go...

Could go to a large party which is outdoors, maybe it's in a City Hall.

Lots of people from different parts of the city come there, they congregate, and they

have concerts, music, and all kinds of fun things happening.

Or the most famous party, one of the most famous parties and probably one of the largest

parties in the whole world that takes place on New Year happens in New York City in

Times Square.

You might have watched it on television.

There, that party, if we can call it that, has a million visitors and lots of other special traditions.

There's a very famous thing that happens at midnight, there's a huge crystal ball, it

weighs about 5,000 kilos and it's huge, and it's made of crystal, and in the last 10 seconds

of the...

Of New Year's Eve and going into New Year's Day, the crystal ball begins to drop and what

we have is a countdown to the New Year.

So everybody goes: "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1", and then:

"Happy New Year!" and all the craziness starts.

Okay?

So that's the biggest party that's probably happening anywhere in the world, which is

in Times Square in New York.

So, parties, very popular.

It doesn't mean that if you don't have a party it's not the New Year.

You can have a party by yourself and say: "You know what?

I'm happy being by myself", but I'm just telling you what lots of people like to do.

So usually we get together with our family and friends.

We...

As I said, when we go out we attend concerts, we listen to music, people are dancing and

people are having fun, they're joking, they're laughing, they're being silly.

It's a day when people are not serious.

They're really not serious.

They're just joyful, really happy, because they have the New Year and another chance

to do things correctly and to do things better than in the past year.

Okay.

So, what are some of the other things that we do?

We also eat special food, special dinners.

If families get together, they cook a special dinner or and we go out to restaurants.

Usually they have lots of expensive, fancy food available for you.

Okay?

And then there are a few traditions that happen at midnight.

One of those is to drink champagne and drink a toast to the New Year around midnight.

There's also a tradition to kiss someone, not just anyone, usually someone that you

love at midnight when the clock actually strikes 12 because there used to be a kind of a saying

that if you're kissing somebody at the New Year at midnight then you're not going to

have a lonely year ahead.

I don't know if it's true, but a lot of people do that because they like kissing anyway.

So you'll see, often if you're watching the New Year celebrations that the camera will

focus on a couple somewhere in the audience or in the crowd kissing at the New Year.

Also at that time a lot of fireworks start going off so there's fireworks everywhere.

In fact, this entire evening, New Year's Eve...

For example, we're in Toronto so we get to watch celebrations happening from a few hours before.

Right? From New Zealand, Australia, and then England, and so on, as the New Year gets...

Begins. Right?

And then we watch last probably Times Square and New York, which is where we're located,

in that time zone.

And everywhere we see amazing, fabulous fireworks displays.

And, of course, everyone's out and spending money, and having a lot of fun.

Okay?

And also one of the things that's almost always done in a lot of English-speaking countries

is to sing a special song, and that is a Scottish folk song, actually, that's called:

"Auld Lang Syne", which means: "Times Gone By".

Or if I say: "For auld lang syne" it means: "For old times' sake", and it's a special

song that we sing which is kind of like a way to honour friendship, to honour our old

friends, and to honour time as a result.

Because when we have an old friend, we are actually showing that we respect that we had

these wonderful friends in our lives and over a long period of time.

So that's another very special tradition, and we'll see if we can put that on our Facebook

so you can hear that song in case you are not familiar with that tune.

So, here are some of the other things that you will see on TV.

You'll see people wearing hats and blowing on horns, and making noise with all kinds

of silly things that make noise that are called "noisemakers".

And you'll see a lot of decorations, streamers which are like coloured crate paper that you

put up even at birthday parties and things like that.

And also very often at midnight what happens is that a lot of little coloured pieces of

paper called confetti are thrown...

Thrown down or thrown up into the air, and they land on everybody so everybody's just

feeling really silly and very happy.

Okay?

Now, there are a couple of other traditions which are very important which I'm going to

tell you next, which is how to wish people for the New Year whether you're telling them

or whether you're writing something to them.

And the other thing I'm going to tell you about is something called resolutions.

So, hang in there.

Okay, so here are some ways that you can wish people for the New Year, and these people

could be your family, it could be your friends, could be colleagues, could be your friends

on Facebook, all kinds of things.

Okay?

All right.

So, the most obvious and the easiest one to say is: "Happy New Year!"

So, you can say that.

We say that a lot: "Happy New Year", we write it also.

Okay?

Now, of course depending on who you're talking to, you're going to change it a little bit

or you can change it if you wish.

Now, another point is that if you are sending a New Year greeting, it could be a physical

card, it could be a digital card, it could be a special email, it could be something

from your business, something you send to a customer or client or a colleague or a friend

or your grandmother or whoever.

Okay?

So even if you send them a card, even if it's a card that you buy in the store, you still

want to maybe add a personal touch by writing something yourself.

Okay? And not just signing your name and send...

Sending it off.

But adding a little bit of a personal message to someone.

And so some of these things...

I'm giving you some general kind of greetings that you can include, but you might also want

to write something more personal.

For example, if you know that somebody's been unwell, so you might want to wish them health

and healing.

If you know that somebody's been looking for a job, you might want to wish them success

in that area.

Or if you know that somebody's about to graduate from university or just starting university,

you might wish them specifically for that purpose.

Okay? Let's look at some of the other general greetings that you can use.

So you could say, like, for example: "Happy New Year in 2017."

Now, it just so happens when we're recording this it's 2016, so the next year is 2017.

But, of course, change that according to whatever the New Year is for you when you watch this.

Okay, now, you could say other things: "Happy New Year and all the best."

Or, again, if it's a little bit more personal, you could say:

"Wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy New Year."

Or: "Wishing you a happy New Year filled with lots of blessings."

Now, that's a little bit religious, a little bit more personal, so you might not use that

in a business context, but you might want to use it if that reflects who you are, who

your family is, or who your friends are then you could say something like that.

Or I like this one also because it's kind of good for everyone:

"Wishing you a happy, healthy, and successful New Year." Okay?

Because "success" means all kinds of things to different people, so you could definitely

use these greetings when you wish people.

Now, another very special thing that we do for...

Around this time of New Year's is something called "New Year's resolutions".

So, what's a "resolution"?

A "resolution" is like a decision or a promise to yourself to improve in some ways.

So you could decide that you will start doing something or that you will stop doing something.

All right?

And this could apply to any aspect of your life.

For example, you could decide that you will start eating healthy food or you will start

exercising, and that you will stop smoking, for example.

So you could say: "I will do this..." or: "I won't do that."

Okay?

Now, resolutions don't have to be only about your personal things.

They are personal because they're about you, but really,

they are a chance to look at your entire life.

And people often use this time to sort of think, to reflect, because each of us has

a goal and a dream and a vision for ourselves and who we want to be

or who we think we can be.

And the New Year gives us a chance to make that real.

So we usually examine different aspects of our lives, maybe our personal life, as I said,

about eating more healthy, maybe you want to learn a new language.

Maybe something professional, maybe you want to look for another job or you want to get

a promotion and you really want to work hard for that.

Or something financial, perhaps you want to pay off your debts or you want to become rich.

Okay?

Something about relationships.

Maybe your resolution is that you're going to spend more time with your family or something

else, you're going to do something very kind for people that you know.

Or it could be something academic as well, like perhaps you're going to ace that class

or do very well in that exam, or be one of the best students or get a scholarship, and

really work hard at it because this is a time to give yourself a little bit of a push and

that motivation to achieve more and to be more.

And there is a little something else, and I'll get back with that.

Okay, so today we have a surprise for you.

I'd like to invite someone here.

Come.

So this is Enerson.

Enerson: Hi.

Rebecca: He's visiting us from Brazil, and he's one of our viewers, and he came to Toronto

and he stopped by to say hi to us.

Enerson: Hi.

Rebecca: How are you?

It's really nice to meet you.

Enerson: Thank you. I'm glad to finally meet you in person.

Rebecca: Oh, that's such a pleasure.

It's always a pleasure to meet our viewers as well.

Enerson: Okay.

Rebecca: So, since we've been talking about the New Years, do you have any New Year's resolutions?

Enerson: Yeah, I have. I have.

I want to...

I want to move to Toronto...

Rebecca: Okay.

Enerson: I want to be in shape, and I want to improve my English with www.engvid.com.

Rebecca: Oh, that's really, really nice.

Thank you so much.

I wish you and your family a very happy New Year, and all the best.

And let's say happy New Year.

Enerson: Happy New Year, everybody.

Rebecca: Happy New Year.

Bye.

So now I have a question for you.

What are some of your New Year's resolutions?

I'd love to read about them, so please share them with us in the comments.

And, of course, if you'd like to do a little bit of a review of some of the vocabulary

and expressions that we've covered in this lesson, go to our website at www.engvid.com,

and there you can do a quiz on this lesson.

And perhaps if you haven't already

for the New Year, you would like to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

That would give you a steady supply of lots of English lessons.

Of course, on our website, engVid, we have like more than a thousand lessons which can

help you, so I hope you're making that part of your New Year's routine.

And last of all I'd like to wish you,

from all of us at engVid, a very happy, healthy, and successful New Year.

Have a great time and make this your best year ever.

All the best with your English.

Bye for now.