新年快乐！
Xīnnián kuàilè
Happy (Chinese) New Year!
恭喜发财！
Gōngxǐ fācái
[Congratulations and fortune]!
大吉大利,
Dàjí dàlì
May you have good fortune,
万事如意,
Wànshì rúyì
May your dreams be fulfilled,
身体健康！
Shēntǐ jiànkāng
May you[r body] be healthy,
and most importantly...
红包拿来。。。
Hóngbāo ná lái
Gimme the red envelopes (with money in it)!
Well, that last one is, strictly speaking, not a proper traditional greeting. But I kid you not during the last post: the Chinese has many, many proverbs and greetings and sayings. That lot are just a few of the possible hundreds of wishes of good luck during the new year.
And that's just for the new year. There are much more for birthdays, marriages, opening up a shop, and wishing good luck for an exam. (Speaking of exams, there seems to be a Biology test tomorrow, right after this holiday.) Now, couple that with the sheer number of Chinese characters (Hanzi) we need to know for each of those wishes, well... people's fears of learning this language are understandable.
Can't change much about that, could we?
But for now, let us all accept all these greetings this fascinating and colorful language has to offer us. Happy Chinese New Year.
And that's just for the new year. There are much more for birthdays, marriages, opening up a shop, and wishing good luck for an exam. (Speaking of exams, there seems to be a Biology test tomorrow, right after this holiday.) Now, couple that with the sheer number of Chinese characters (Hanzi) we need to know for each of those wishes, well... people's fears of learning this language are understandable.
Can't change much about that, could we?
But for now, let us all accept all these greetings this fascinating and colorful language has to offer us. Happy Chinese New Year.
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