How to say it merry christmas and happy new year in other languages?
Discover the different Christmas traditions on Christmas trees, use of sending Christmas cards and what is the name of Santa Claus in different countries!
Let's find out how to say "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" "in different languages of the world .
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Belgium
As in the Netherlands, children in Belgium think that "Sinterklaas/St. Niklaas (Flemish) or" Saint-Nicolas "(Wallonia) brings them gifts on 5 and 6 December, Saint-Nicolas and Saint-Nicolas .
The children hang their shoes in front of the fireplace, together something for Sinterklaas like a drawing or some biscuits; they could also leave a carrot for Sinterklass's horse and something for Zwarte Piet (Black Peter, Sinterklass's assistant). Then, at night, Sinterklaas arrives on the roof of his horse with Zwarte Piet.
Zwarte Piet goes down the fireplace and leaves the presents in and around the shoes. Sinterklaas has a book where he keeps all the names of the children and indicates if they were bad or good.
Children are told that if they were bad, Zwarte Piet will put you in his bag and take you back to Spain!
Traditional foods that have remained for Sinterklaas include mandarins, gingerbread, chocolate and "mokjes" (letter-shaped biscuits. There are many songs that children sing on Sinterklaas.
The visit to Sinkerlass is a separate Christmas occasion. Christmas is a more religious holiday.
In Belgium there are three official languages: Dutch (a Belgian version of Dutch is known as Flemish, it is spoken mainly in the northern part of Belgium called Flanders), French (spoken mainly in the southern part of Wallonia) and German (spoken by around l '1% of Belgians in the eastern part of the country).
In Belgium, Dutch/Flemish Merry/Merry Christmas is `` Vrolijk Kerstfeest '', French is `` Merry Christmas '', in German it is `` Frohe Weihnachten '' and in the Walloon language (spoken by some people in the region Walloon) is `` djoyeus Noyé ''.
On Christmas Eve ("Flemish Kerstavond" and "Christmas Eve" in Wallonia), a special meal is consumed by most families. It starts with a drink (aperitif) and "snacks", followed by an entry course such as seafood, then stuffed turkey.
The dessert is "Kerststronk" (Flemish) or "the strain of Noël '(Wallon) a chocolate Yule chocolate roll in cream-layer sponge roll. The exterior is covered with chocolate butter cream. and made to resemble a trunk covered with bark.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Australia
In Australia, Christmas comes at the beginning of the summer holidays! Children spend the summer holidays from mid-December to early February, so some people can even camp for Christmas.
Because it's so hot at Christmas in Australia, there are quite often forest fires across the country. Many volunteer firefighters in the forest are involved in the protection of people and property and travel from all over Australia to provide assistance in other states.
Australians hang garlands on their front doors and sometimes go out to sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve.
People also decorate their homes and gardens with Christmas trees and Christmas lights.
Neighbors sometimes have small competitions to see who has the best bright display. Neighbors often visit to watch bright screens at night. Sometimes the displays are turned off on December 1st. A street in Sydney raises more than $ 35,000 (AUS) every year for charity thanks to its coordinated display!
Australians also decorate their homes with clusters of "Christmas Bush", an Australian indigenous tree with small green leaves and cream-colored flowers.
In summer, the flowers become a bright intense red over a period of several weeks (usually Christmas week in Sydney). Poinsettia plants are also popular plants used as decorations.
Gifts are normally exchanged between families on Christmas day.
The day after Christmas, many people visit their friends and often grill on the beach. A famous yacht race from Sydney to Hobart in Tasmania also takes place the day after Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Germany
A large part of the Christmas celebrations in Germany is Advent. Different types of Advent calendars are used in German homes.
In addition to the traditional paper used in many countries, there is one made of a crown of fir branches with 24 decorated boxes or hanging bags. Each box or bag contains a small gift. Another type is called "Kranz Advent" and is a ring of fir branches with four candles. It's like Advent candles that are sometimes used in churches. A candle is lit at the beginning of each Advent week.
Christmas trees are very important in Germany. They were first used in Germany in the late Middle Ages. If there are young children in the house, the trees are usually secretly decorated by the mother.
The Christmas tree was traditionally brought into the house on Christmas Eve. In some parts of Germany, during the evening, the family read the Bible and sang Christmas songs such as O Tannenbaum, Ihr Kinderlein Kommet and Stille Nacht (Slient Night).
Sometimes wooden frames, covered with colored plastic sheets and electric candles inside, are placed in the windows to make the house look pretty from the outside.
Christmas Eve is the main day when Germans exchange gifts with their families.
Use "Frohe Weihnachten!" ("Merry Christmas") and "Frohes Neues Jahr" ("Happy New Year").
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Portuguese
Santa Claus ("Pai Natal") would bring gifts to children on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas day. The gifts are placed under the Christmas tree or in the shoes near the fireplace. However, some people say that the gifts are brought by the baby Jesus rather than by Santa Claus.
As in Spain, the traditional Christmas meal in Portugal, called "Consoada", is eaten on Christmas Eve evening and consists of cod with green vegetables and boiled potatoes. This is normally followed by shellfish, wild meats or other expensive foods.
After the meal, people go to church for the "Missa do Galo" or "Messe du Coq" service. During the service, an image of the baby Jesus is revealed and everyone lines up to kiss him. It is then placed in the manger (crib) that each church will have. After the service, people go home and open their gifts.
Before leaving for the service, the parents secretly placed the baby Jesus in the manger in their homes and placed the presents under the Christmas tree, so that Jesus was "miraculously" in his manger when the family returned to the house!
The children run to check the kindergarten as soon as they enter the house because no child Jesus means no gifts!
Some families have two hours of operation, with children allowed to open some gifts after midnight mass and most of them in the morning.
People who don't go to a midnight service will put gifts under the tree and the family will open the gifts when they wake up.
Christmas trees are common now, but not all of them had a tree until the 1970s. However, the manger (or crib) is the traditional Christmas decoration in Portugal, and most families will have a small one with only the holy family and animals; but often the scenes have dozens of characters, including the holy family, animals, sages, shepherds, peasants, popular figures, etc.
Children like to go to kindergarten, take the moss to make the grass and arrange the figures.
In Portuguese, he would like "Feliz Natal" or "Bom Natal" (Merry Christmas) and "Feliz ano novo!" ("Happy New Year!").
As for the Spanish language, you may also want "Boas festas!" ("Happy Holidays") to include all special days in a single greeting.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in India
Compared to other religious holidays, Christmas is a fairly small holiday in India, due to the number of Christians (about 2.3%) compared to people belonging to other religions. That said, the Indian population is over 1 billion, so there are over 25 million Christians in India!
One of the largest Indian Christian communities in a city is located in Mumbai. Many Mumbai (ex Bombay) Christians are Roman Catholics. In the smallest Indian state, Goa, in western India, about 26% of people are Christian.
Many Christians in Mumbai come from or have roots in Goa. The states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram (all in the Far East of India) also have a large Christian population.
Midnight mass is a very important service for Christians in India, especially Catholics. The whole family will go to mass and this will be followed by a massive celebration of different specialties (mainly curry) and delivery and reception of gifts. Indian churches are decorated with flowers and Christmas candles for midnight mass on Christmas Eve.
Many different languages are spoken in India. In Hindi, Merry/Merry Christmas is "Śubh krisamas" (शुभ क्रिसमस); Urdu is "krismas mubarak" (کرسمس); in Sanskrit, it is "Krismasasya shubhkaamnaa"; in Gujarati, it is "Anandi Natal" or "Khushi Natal" (આનંદી નાતાલ); in the Bengali "shubho bôloln" (শুভ বড়দিন); in Tamil, it is "kilistumas vālttukkal" (கிறிஸ்துமஸ் வாழ்த்துக்கள்); in Konkani, it is "Khushal Borit Natala"; in Kannada, it is "kris mas habbada shubhaashayagalu" (ಕ್ರಿಸ್ ಮಸ್ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಷಯಗಳು); in Mizo, it is "Krismas Chibai"; in Marathi, it is "Śubh Nātāl" (शुभ नाताळ); in Punjabi, it is "karisama te nawāl sāla khušayālwālā hewe" (ਕਰਿਸਮ ਤੇ ਨਵਾੰ ਸਾਲ ਖੁਸ਼ਿਯਾੰਵਾਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ); in Malayalam, it is "Christmas inte mangalaashamsakal" Merry/Merry Christmas in many other languages.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Russian
"Счастливого Рождества!" (Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!). "С Новым Годом!" (S Novim Godom!).
At the time of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not much celebrated. The new year has become a significant moment.
After the 1917 revolution, Christmas was banned as a religious holiday in 1929 and Christmas trees were banned until 1935 when they were transformed into "New Year" trees! If people wanted to celebrate Christmas, they had to secretly only in their families.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, people were free to celebrate Christmas again. But it's still a quieter and smaller holiday in Russia after the big New Year celebrations.
New Year is the best time to spend a lot of money and eat and drink a lot. Christmas is much more religious and private.
New Years is also when "Nonno Gelo" (known in Russian as "Ded Moroz" or Дед Мороз) brings gifts to children. It is evergreen accompanied by its granddaughter (Snegurochka).
On New Year's Eve, children join hands, circle around the Christmas tree and call Snegurochka or Ded Moroz. When yes, the star and the other lights of the Christmas tree light up! Ded Moroz wore a large magic wand.
The traditional greeting for Happy New Year is "S Novym Godom".
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Canada
Canada is a very large country and people of different cultural backgrounds live there. For this reason, there are many different Christmas traditions in Canada.
Many traditions and celebrations come from French, English, Irish, Scottish, German, Norwegian, Ukrainian and Aboriginal/First Nations influences.
Canadians send Christmas cards to friends and family.
Many Canadians open their presents on Christmas Eve. Some don't open their socks until Christmas Eve. Others choose a gift to open, then keep the rest until Christmas day.
Canadians love to decorate their homes with Christmas trees, lights and other decorations. There are often Christmas socks hanging on the fireplace, ready for Santa Claus!
The eastern province of Canada, Nova Scotia, is known worldwide for its fir and pine Christmas trees, so most families in Canada have a fir or pine Christmas tree. .
One of Canada's traditions is to send the largest and best Christmas tree (grown in Nova Scotia) to Boston, the United States, due to disaster relief known worldwide under the name of Halifax Explosion.
This tradition has been going on for many years. Bostonians still love and appreciate the Nova Scotia Christmas tree. They put this tree in town and then light it up during a ceremony to start the Christmas season.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Holland
In Dutch, Merry/Merry Christmas can be defined as `` Prettige Kerst '', `` Zalig Kerstfeest '' or `` Zalig Kerstmis '' (both mean `` Merry Christmas '') or `` Vrolijk Kerstfeest '' (Merry Christmas).
In West Frisian (Frysk) spoken in Friesland/Fryslân), it is "Noflike Krystdagen" (Comfortable Christmas days);
in Bildts spoken in Friesland, it is "Noflike Korsttydsdagen" (comfortable Christmas days).
Merry Christmas/Merry Christmas in many other languages!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in China
In China, only about one percent of people are Christian, so most people only know a few things about Christmas. For this reason, Christmas is often celebrated only in major cities.
In these big cities there are Christmas trees, lights and other decorations on the streets and in department stores.
Santa Claus is called "Shen Dan Lao Ren" and has caves in stores like in Europe and America. Postmen might dress up as Santa when they deliver letters before Christmas!
More and more young people celebrate Christmas in the cities where the Christmas holidays are becoming popular and it is also a time when young couples will be gifts for each other, a bit like Valentine's day.
In Chinese Merry Christmas/Merry Christmas is "Sheng Dan Kuai Le o 圣诞 快乐" in Mandarin and "Seng Dan Fai Lok or 聖誕 快樂" in Cantonese. Merry Christmas/Merry Christmas in many more languages.
In China, Santa Claus is known as "Sheng dan lao ren" (traditional: 聖誕老人, simplified: 圣诞老人; means old Christmas man).
If a friend who speaks Mandarin celebrates Christmas, put up his Christmas tree and can't wait to meet 圣诞老人 ("Sheng dan lao ren" or Santa Claus), tell him: "圣诞 快乐 ( Sheng Dan Kuai Le)! "(Merry Christmas) and" 新年 快乐/新年 快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè)! " (New Year's happiness).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Japan
Christmas has only been widely celebrated in Japan for a few decades. It is not yet considered a holiday or a religious holiday because there are not many Christians in Japan. Now, many costumes that have come from the United States to Japan, such as sending and receiving postcards and Christmas gifts, are popular.
In Japan, Christmas is known as more than a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration. Christmas Eve is often celebrated more than Christmas day. Christmas Eve is considered a romantic day, where couples spend time together and exchange gifts.
In many ways it sounds like Valentine's Day celebrations in the UK and US.
Young couples love to walk around to look at the Christmas lights and have a romantic meal in a restaurant - booking a table on Christmas Eve can be very difficult because it's so popular!
This is the perfect time to say: "you were り ー く り す ま す (Meri Kurisumasu)!" and "明 け ま し て お め で と う ご ざ い ま す。 (Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu)!".
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Argentina
In Argentina, the weather is warm at Christmas. Preparations for Christmas begin very early in December and even November. Many Argentines are Catholics and also celebrate Advent.
The house is beautifully decorated with lights and wreaths of green, golden, red and white flowers. Red and white garlands are hung on the doors of the houses.
Christmas trees are also very popular and are often decorated before December 8 (the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when Catholics celebrate the conception of Mary).
Some people like to put cotton balls on the Christmas tree to represent the snow! Artificial trees are much more common than real trees in Argentina.
They can also come in different colors besides green, like white or blue!
The crib or "pesebre" is also an important Christmas decoration in Argentina. The crib is placed near the Christmas tree.
Christmas cards are not common in Argentina and although some people do and receive gifts, it is usually only between close relatives and friends.
The main Christmas celebrations take place on Christmas Eve. Many Catholics will go to mass in the late afternoon.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Spain
Most people in Spain go to midnight mass or "La Misa Del Gallo" (mass of the rooster). It is called this because a rooster is said to have sung on the night of Jesus' birth. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena. In the days before Nochebuena, the children could participate in the "piden el aguinaldo", where they will sing songs around their neighbors in the hope of earning money!
Some different languages are spoken in different regions of Spain. In Spanish, Merry/Merry Christmas is "Feliz Navidad"; in Catalan, it is "Bon Nadal"; in Galician "Bo Nadal"; and in Basque (or Basque Euskara) "Eguberri su". Merry Christmas/Merry Christmas in many other languages.
New Year's Eve is called "Nochevieja" or "La Vecchia Notte" in Spain and a special tradition is that at midnight you eat 12 grapes with the 12 shots of the clock! Each grape represents a month of next year, so if you eat the twelve grapes, you are said to be lucky in the new year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in South Africa
Since South Africa is located in the southern hemisphere, Christmas comes in the summer. So there is a lot of sun and beautiful flowers in full bloom.
Schools are closed for the Christmas holidays and some people like to go camping. Carol on Christmas Eve is very popular in cities. Candlelight Christmas carols are also popular on Christmas Eve. And many people go to church on Christmas morning.
Traditional Christmas trees made of "fir" are popular and children leave a stocking for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Santa Claus is also known as Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and Kersvader (Santa Claus) for people who speak Afrikaans (which has a base in Dutch).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Pakistan
In Pakistan, December 25 is a holiday, but it is in memory of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. As in India, Christians represent only a very small part of the population.
But since Pakistan has more than 162 million inhabitants, there are more than 5 million Christians! Most Christians in Pakistan live in the country and are quite poor.
During Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, a large procession takes place in Lahore, from the Saint-Antoine church to the cathedral.
It takes hours to reach the cathedral for services. These are then celebrated with great enthusiasm!
Before and during Advent, spiritual seminars are held to help people prepare for Christmas or "Bara Din" (which in Urdu and Punjabi means "great day"). This expression is very popular, even among Muslims in Pakistan.
Bara Din or on Christmas day, Christians go back to church for the Bara Din celebrations.
People wear their best colorful clothes.
They can stay in the courtyard of the church for hours, tasting various dishes from different stands.
Usually the evening is celebrated with family or loved ones, where special food is served. Adults often visit their parents.
In Pakistan, Santa Claus/Santa Claus is known as "Christmas Baba".
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Norway
Christmas Eve is the time when gifts are exchanged.gifts are sometimes brought by Santa Claus (called "Julenissen" in Norway).
Gifts are also brought by small gnomes called "Nisse".
There are also goblin decorations (Nisse). The children collect the presents under the Christmas tree and read the gift cards aloud.
During Advent/December in Norway, small gifts are sometimes offered every December day before Christmas. These are known as Adventsgave or Kalendergave. There is a similar tradition in Denmark.gifts are sometimes used with a chocolate Advent calendar!
As in Finland, a sheaf of wheat is often left aside for birds to eat on Christmas. In addition, a type of rice porridge is sometimes left to the "Nisse", which is supposed to keep the animals on the farm.
In Norwegian, Merry Christmas is "God Jul" or "Gledelig Jul". In the north of Sami, spoken in the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, it is the "Buorit Juovllat". Merry Christmas in many other languages.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Israel
Although the Christmas story took place in Israel, Christmas isn't celebrated in the country at all! Only about 2.5% of Israel's population is Christian. Christmas is not a holiday in most of Israel!
For most people in Israel, Christmas is a `` normal working day '' (unless December 25 is the weekend) and in large cities like Jerusalem, it is unlikely to see many (or none) of them. , unless you are specifically going to "tourist" areas or areas with churches.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is often celebrated at the same time as Christmas. In 2024 Hanukkah will be from Thursday evening 10 December to Friday evening 18 December. (There are also no holidays in Israel for Hanukkah!)
In Hebrew, Merry/Merry Christmas is "Chag Molad Sameach" (חג מולד שמח) which means "Happy birth". In Aramaic, the language that Jesus would have spoken is "Eedookh Breekha" which means "Bless your Christmas".
JMerry Christmas and Happy New Year in England (or Great Britain/United Kingdom)
Families in the UK often celebrate Christmas together so they can watch each other as they open their presents!
Many families have a Christmas tree (or maybe even two!) In their home for Christmas. Decorating the tree is usually a family occasion, with everyone helping. Christmas trees were first popularized in the UK by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.
Prince Albert was German and thought it would be nice to use one of his ways to celebrate Christmas in England.
Holly, ivy and mistletoe are also sometimes used to decorate houses or other buildings.
Most villages, towns and villages are decorated with Christmas lights on Christmas. Often a famous person turns them on.
The most famous Christmas lights in the UK are located on Oxford Street in London. Every year they get bigger and bigger. Thousands of people will participate in the big "start-up" towards the beginning of November.
Children believe that Santa Claus or Santa Claus leave gifts in socks or pillowcases, normally hanging from the fire or from children's beds on Christmas Eve. Children sometimes leave minced pies and brandy to make Santa eat and drink when he visits them. Now it is often a drink left over because Santa Claus has to drive his sleigh.
Children write letters to Santa Claus/Santa Claus listing their requests, but sometimes instead of putting them in the mail, the letters are thrown into the fireplace. The draft brings the letters to the fireplace and Santa Claus/Santa Claus reads the smoke.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Indonesia
Although most Indonesians (around 85%) are Muslim, around 10% of the population is Christian - they are still around 20 million people! Indonesian Christians love to celebrate Christmas!
Indonesian Christians usually go to religious services on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
In most churches and cathedrals, people create nativity scenes and use them as part of the drama of the Nativity.
Also in Indonesia Santa Claus is very popular and is called `` Sinterklass '' (this is because Indonesia was once ruled by the Netherlands).
Sinterklass brings gifts to children on Christmas day - and you might also see it in shopping malls, etc.! The exchange of gifts is common among Christians in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, Merry Christmas is called "Selamat Natal".
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Finland
The Finns believe that Santa Claus or Santa Claus lives in the northern part of Finland called Korvatunturi (or Lapland), north of the Arctic circle. People from all over the world send letters to Santa Claus in Finland.
There is a large tourist theme park called "Christmas Land" in northern Finland, near where Santa Claus is said to live.
In Finnish, Merry/Merry Christmas is "Hyvää joulua". In northern Sami, spoken in the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, it is "Buorit Juovllat".
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Egypt
In Egypt, about 15% of people are Christian. They are the only part of the population that truly celebrates Christmas as a religious holiday.
Most Egyptian Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church and have unique traditions for Christmas.
Christmas day is not celebrated on December 25th, but on January 7th (as in Ethiopia and by some Orthodox Christians in Russia and Serbia).
In Egypt, Santa Claus is called Baba Noël (which means Santa Claus). The children hope that he can come out of a window and leave gifts! They could leave Babah Christmas with some kahk.
Most Egyptians speak Egyptian Arabic. In Arabic, Merry/Merry Christmas is "Eid Milad Majid" (عيد ميلاد مجيد) which means "Glorious Baby Shower". Merry Christmas/Merry Christmas in many other languages. "Christmas" in Arabic is "eid almilad" (عيد الميلاد).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Mexico
In Mexico, Christmas is celebrated from December 12 to January 6.
From December 16 to Christmas Eve, children often perform the "Posada" or Posadas processions. Posada is Spanish for hostel or accommodation. There are nine Posadas. These celebrate the part of the Christmas story where Joseph and Marie were looking for a place to stay.
For Posadas, the exterior of the houses is decorated with conifers, moss and paper lanterns.
In Mexico, gifts could also be brought by "El Niñito Dios" (baby Jesus) and Santo Clós (Santa Claus)
In Mexico, most people speak Spanish (Spanish), so Merry/Merry Christmas is "Feliz Navidad". In Nahuatl (spoken in parts of central Mexico), it is "Cualli netlācatilizpan" and in the Mayan language of Yucatec (spoken in parts of the Yucatán peninsula), it is "Ki'imak" navidad "".
