December, the last month of the year, is a long-awaited time to celebrate with friends and family. Indeed, this sentiment applies to everyone, beyond religious beliefs and location in the world.
Apart from specific traditions or customs, the spirit of joy, gratitude, and togetherness is characteristic of
December. It’s a time when people meet to celebrate, exchange gifts, share meals, and create lasting memories with friends and family.
Many cultures and religions have significant holidays during this time, such as Christmas (Christian and Catholic communities), Hanukkah (Jewish community), Kwanzaa (African heritage community), Bodhi Day (Buddhist community), Pancha Ganapati (Hindu festival), Dongzhi Festival (Chinese), Winter and Summer Solstice
(Northern and Southern Hemispheres respectively), as well as New Year celebrations in most of the world.
Here in America, as a highly diverse community, if we want to include everyone and participate in a rightful
and joyous greeting exchange with colleagues, friends, and family members, we may need to express our best
wishes by saying Happy Holidays! or a sincere Happy New Year!
Let’s discover how to express these well-meaning wishes in other languages:
- ¡Felices Fiestas!, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! (Spanish)
- Joyeuses Fêtes! Bonne année! (French)
- Frohe Feiertage! , Frohes neues Jahr! (German)
- Buone Feste!, Felice anno nuovo! (Italian)
- Felizes Festas! Feliz Ano Novo! (Portuguese)
- Prettige Feestdagen! Gelukkig nieuwjaar! (Dutch)
- חגים שמחים (Hebrew) (Chagim Sameach!) (Shanah Tovah!)
- ハッピーホリデー! (Japanese) (Happī horidē!) (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!)
- 节⽇快乐！(Chinese Mandarin) (Jiérì kuàilè! Xīnnián kuàilè!)
- عيد سعيد (Arabic) Eid Saeed! , Sanaa Jadeeda Saeeda!
Similarly to our American nation, Be Bilingual’s students and teachers come from many places and have different cultural and religious backgrounds. All of them have trusted us to guide them through their journey of learning a new language, and we are deeply grateful for that.
To all of you, dear students and teachers, Happy Holidays! May the upcoming year bring fresh opportunities, exciting discoveries, and continued growth, personally and professionally.
Happy New Year!
