People all over the world ring in the New Year with gusto and a hope for a fresh start. To commemorate the occasion, it is important to spread the joy and positive vibes by wishing people “Happy New Year.” Sometimes, this phrase is said so reflexively that you may not notice just how much the expression can positively affect someone. While there is no fixed way to wish someone well in the coming year, there are different ways you can bring emotion and meaning back into the commonplace greeting.
EditSteps
EditWishing Family and Friends Happy New Year
- Say the greeting aloud to someone at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Be bold and shout it at the top of your lungs, or simply wish people a happy New Year individually. Say it to family members, friends, or to people you interact with while out in public. [1]
- Show affection to your loved ones as you greet them. Giving a hug, or even a kiss on both cheeks, can show that you genuinely wish them well at the start of the new year.[2]
- Also take interest in what your loved ones have to say or what is going on in their lives. Follow up your greeting by asking if they have any set plans or goals for the start of the new year. Maybe you have a New Year’s resolution and want to share that with them as well.
- Send the New Year’s greeting as a text message to friends and family. Compose and send the message at midnight on New Year’s Eve if you know the person will be awake or wait to send the message out over the next week. Sending a text message is a good substitute when you can’t greet someone in person.[3]
- Be expressive with your message. Use exclamation marks, and smiling or excited emojis galore. Sometimes text messages can seem flat, so make sure to dress the message up to adequately portray your excitement.
- Apps like SnapChat or Bitmoji will even have personalized filters or graphics for you to send along with your written message.
- Post about your past year on social media and finish it with New Year’s wishes. Highlight some positive experiences you had like recalling a fun vacation or include some of the struggles you overcame like conquering a tough semester at college. Maybe even select a fun picture or a favorite quote related to New Year’s and post it to your social media accounts. This will give an all-encompassing wish to your family and friends without having to message each person individually.[4]
- Give an insightful quote like one said by T.S. Eliot, “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.”
- Pick quote from popular celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right,” or even Brad Paisley, “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.”
- Post a quote that is uplifting or inspiring, like one from Henry David Thoreau, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
- Mail out handwritten cards to loved ones a week before New Year’s Day. Send a festive card for the occasion, and write a personal message to each person you send it to. People love to get cards in the mail, so make the new year a little brighter and mail out a card.[5]
- Write out a message that not only wishes the person a happy New Year, but one that also gives insight to your hopes for the new year. Maybe you haven’t seen that relative or friend in a while, and in your card, you express that.
- Include a festive photo with the card. The photograph can be you wearing a celebratory sweater for New Year’s, or it can be something as simple as you lounging outside with your pet. Pictures can easily be sent over social media, but sending a printed photo adds a personalized touch.
EditSaying Happy New Year in Different Languages
- Shout “Bonne année” (bon a-nay) while celebrating in France. Practice placing your tongue towards the roof of your mouth to pronounce the nasal “nay” for the second syllable of “année.” It makes the same long “a” sound as in the word “hay.”[6]
- Gather family and friends on December 31st to celebrate the saint’s feast day of “La Saint-Sylvestre” (la sin seal-vay-str). When the clock strikes midnight, yell, “Bonne année!” (bon a-nay) to wish everyone a happy New Year.
- Say “Feliz año nuevo” (feh-liz an-yoh n-way-vo) while in Spain. Memorize the phrase easily by directly translating it to English as “Happy Year New.” You may have already heard the word “feliz” used in other Spanish phrases like “Feliz Navidad,” as used in the popular Spanish-English Christmas song by José Feliciano. Then, remember that “nuevo” looks like the word “new.”[7]
- After learning the phrase, partake in the tradition of eating 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight, and then shout, “Feliz año nuevo!”[8]
- Learn the Portuguese phrase “Feliz ano novo” (feh-liz an-oh noh-voh). Round your lips around the “oh” syllables to make the pronunciation easier. The sound is similar to the one you would make by simply sighing, “Oh.”[9]
- Notice that the phrase looks very similar to the Spanish phrase. Picking out these similarities between languages will make learning them easier.
- Practice the German saying “Frohes neues jahr” (frohes neu-yis yar). Enunciate the heavy “y” sounds in this phrase. Listen to the way different regions in Germany pronounce the same phrase. Sometimes, “neues” can also be pronounced as “neu-yiz.”[10]
- Once you have mastered that phrase, practice saying the alternative phrase, “Gutes neues jahr” (gutes neu-yis yar). In this case, “gutes” translates to “good.”
- Learn the Russian phrase “S novym godom” (s nò-vym gò-dam). Annunciate on the multiple long “o” sounds within this phrase. Practice saying the syllables quickly, so that it almost flows as a single word.[11]
- Practice saying an alternate version, “S novym schastem,” (s nò-vym sh-a-stym) which translates to, “Happy new happiness.”
- Learn the formal Japanese phrase “Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu.” Break down this phrase into phonetic syllables to make it easier to learn. Start by breaking up “akemashite” as “a-kay-mash-tay.” Then move onto the second word “omedetou” as “o-meh-deh-tò.” Lastly, sound out “gozaimasu” as “gò-zye-mas.” Practice saying the phrase together for a formal greeting.[12]
- Say the informal version of the phrase, “Akemashite omedetou,” to close family and friends. The words in this phrase are pronounced the same as in the formal version.
- Enjoy saying this phrase for the first 2 weeks of January while in Japan, as it is custom to celebrate the New Year for an extended time beyond January 1st.
- Celebrate the Chinese New Year by saying “Xīn nián kuài lè,” in Mandarin. Pronounce this formal greeting as “shin nee-an kwai le,” which translates to “New Year happiness.” Say this phrase to strangers or to acquaintances.
- Then, practice an informal version to say to family and friends, “Xīn nián hao” (shin nee-an how).[13]
EditTips
- Wish colleagues a happy New Year. Some people may feel reluctant to return to work so soon after the holiday season. Your greeting could be just the pick-me-up they need to remind them that people are work care about them, too.[14]
- Don’t be overzealous and wish every single person you see. Give people a chance to wish you a happy New Year as well, and always reciprocate with “Thank you” or “You too.”[15]
- Greet people at the end of December and the beginning of January. This applies to countries who follow the Gregorian calendar. New Year’s tends to be a fleeting and quick holiday, so make sure not to miss your chance to wish people well.[16]
- Be mindful if you are visiting a different country around New Year’s Eve or Day as that country might not celebrate it in a way that is similar to yours. For example, people in China will celebrate New Year’s at the end of January or early February. People of Islamic or Jewish cultures also have varying New Year’s dates.[17]
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EditSources and Citations
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