Starting the new year with Korean: Resolutions, traditions, and vocabulary
Jan 1, 2025 Ian
Happy New Year! 🎉
The start of a new year is always exciting—fresh goals, new opportunities, and, if you’re learning Korean, a chance to dive into some fun traditions and useful phrases. Let’s talk about New Year’s resolutions, explore a bit of Korean culture, and pick up some handy vocabulary to kick off 2025.
Contents
- New Year’s resolutions (새해 결심)
- Korean New Year traditions (설날)
- Handy New Year vocabulary
- What are your plans for 2025?
New Year’s resolutions (새해 결심)
Making resolutions is a global tradition, and in Korean, they’re called 새해 결심. To talk about your resolutions, use the phrase 저는 ~ 하기로 했어요, which means “I decided to ~.”
Examples:
- 저는 매일 한국어를 공부하기로 했어요.
(I decided to study Korean every day.) - 저는 운동을 더 열심히 하기로 했어요.
(I decided to exercise more diligently.) - 저는 가족에게 더 자주 전화하기로 했어요.
(I decided to call my family more often.)
What are your resolutions this year? 😊
Korean New Year traditions (설날)
In Korea, New Year is celebrated twice—on January 1st and during 설날, the Lunar New Year. Here are a few traditions you might find interesting:
- 세배: A deep bow performed to elders as a sign of respect. In return, you might receive 세뱃돈, or New Year’s money, typically given to children.
- 떡국: Eating a warm bowl of rice cake soup is a must. It’s believed that eating 떡국 marks the passage into the new year and adds a year to your age!
- 윷놀이: A traditional board game played with family. It’s a mix of strategy, luck, and lots of laughter.
Handy New Year vocabulary
Here are some words and phrases to help you talk about the New Year in Korean:
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
“Happy New Year!” (Literal: Receive lots of blessings in the new year!)한 해 동안 감사했습니다.
“Thank you for everything this past year.”새해 목표
New Year’s goals희망
Hope성공
Success
What are your plans for 2025?
Whether it’s studying Korean, visiting Korea, or something entirely different, I hope your 2025 is off to a great start. If you’re setting language learning goals, let me know—I’d love to cheer you on (or help you come up with a realistic plan)!
새해 복 많이 받으세요! 🎊