Step beyond UK borders and you’ll notice New Year’s Eve shenanigans getting a lot more on interesting. Cultures around the world celebrate in, what seem to us, like weird and wonderful ways.
And every tradition comes with its own words, phrases, and stories – all the components that make language learning so fascinating.
So, put Auld Lang Syne on ice, as we whisk you off on a whistlestop tour of 10 unusual New Year traditions combining culture and language.
10 of the Most Curious New Year’s Eve Traditions on the Planet
- Brazil – Wearing white to invite peace, luck, and prosperity – a demonstration of colour symbolism shifting with language and culture.
- Colombia – Carrying empty suitcases to manifest a year full of travel. Bonus points if you can explain it in Spanish.
- Denmark – Smashing plates on doorsteps to ward off bad spirits. It’s messy, loud, but strangely heartfelt.
- Ecuador – Burning effigies to say goodbye to the old year = a strong metaphor rooted in language and storytelling.
- Greece – Onions on doors and coin-filled cake for luck. Traditions don’t come much more steeped in history and meaning.
- Japan – Oshōgatsu includes letters, soba noodles, and thoughtful gifting. Language here is about respect, ritual, and connection, after all.
- Netherlands – Fireworks, oliebollen (traditional Dutch doughnuts filled with apples or raisons), and a bracing dip in the sea. A mix of ritual, resilience, and shared experience, if you’re brave enough to join in.
- Romania – Entire villages dress as bears and parade through the streets in real bear skins to chase away evil spirits and bad luck. It’s folklore, fear factor, and cultural pride in equal measures.
- Spain – The Spanish tourist board Espana explains: “Eating twelve grapes. Tradition has it that you have to eat them one by one, in time with the striking of the clock at midnight on 31 December. If you manage to eat all the grapes in time, you are in for a year of prosperity and good luck.” Timing and vocabulary skills are preferable.
- Switzerland – Dropping ice cream on the floor to attract abundance. Maybe wasteful. Definitely memorable.
New Year, New traditions, New Ways to Communicate
At la Academia, learning a language includes understanding how people live, celebrate, and connect.
Get in touch to add a new language to your resolutions this year, and see where it takes you by 2027.