How to toast the new year in 20 languages

What are you doing on New Year’s Eve? Eating 12 grapes, counting down with a sparkly disco ball, yelling “Rabbit, rabbit!” or something else entirely? Every culture has a unique tradition to welcome in the new year, from what they do to what they say. 

For example, in Brazilian Portuguese, the celebration is known as “Réveillon” (yes, that’s French!). Brazilians usually wear all white clothing and some even head to the beach at midnight, where they might throw flowers into the ocean or skip the first seven waves with their right foot for good luck. In Czech, each day on the calendar corresponds to a saint’s name, so people celebrate both their birthday and their name day. December 31st is the feast of Saint Silvestr—so in Czech, you’d wish someone a Happy Sylvester! In German, most people wish each other a “good slide” into the new year on the days leading up to January 1 by saying, “Guten Rutsch (ins neue Jahr).” Similarly, in parts of Southern France, people wish each other a “bon bout d’an” (good piece of the year) between Christmas and New Year’s. And that’s just the beginning!

If you want to surprise your friends and family at midnight with a fancy, multilingual toast, we’ve asked everyone from our teaching experts to our multilingual coworkers how to say “Happy New Year,” in 19 more languages besides English! 

How to say “Happy New Year” across the globe

Every culture has its own flair for welcoming a fresh start. However you celebrate this year, try out a new toast from somewhere unexpected—because there’s nothing like ringing in midnight with a little extra language magic. Here’s to new beginnings, new words, and a very Happy New Year… in any language! 🎉