We are coming to the end of the year and that means that very shortly we'll be
celebrating the start of a new year. I thought this was a perfect opportunity
for me to explain to you exactly how the British like to celebrate the start of
the new year. Now if you're not so confident in listening to English
without subtitles then I have provided subtitles for you. All you have to do is
click the little CC button down below and those subtitles will come up on the
screen, and while you're down there if you're not already subscribed then make
sure you press that subscribe button and the bell notification button so you
don't miss any future lessons. And before we get this party started I want to say
a huge thank you to today's sponsor, the last sponsorship of the year, and that is
iTalki. I'm sure you guys are already well aware of iTalki, but if you're not,
they are an online language provider and they provide tuition in many languages
not just English. They have a huge database of native teachers from all
over the world, teaching all kinds of languages so whatever you want to learn
I'm sure you will find it on italki. Now what I particularly like about italki
is that their lessons are not just convenient because they're online, but
also that they're affordable. They are much cheaper than offline tutors at
about 30% of the cost and what makes it even better is that if you click on the
link in the description box below you'll get $10 credit when you make your first
purchase which pretty much means that once you make a purchase you'll get a
lesson for free. Oh alright I can hear the clock's ticking. It's time to talk
about New Year's Eve. Now in the UK we celebrate the end of the year on the
31st of December come midnight we say goodbye to the old year and hello to the
new year. So our parties will happen on the evening of the 31st of December. As
with any celebration you're going to be in a party atmosphere and hopefully
surrounded by people that you care about but there are three, potentially four,
features of a New Year's Eve party that makes it unique to any
other celebration. The first is the countdown. So when we get to midnight we
do like to all shout out loud the last 10 seconds of the old year: ten nine
eight seven six five four three two one happy new year!
At that point the tradition is that you give a New Year's kiss and wish a
Happy New Year to those people that you care about, and of course if you're in a
room full of friends or family that means you've got a lot of hugging and
kissing to do. Let's just hope that you don't have any cold sores. Then once all
the smooching is done it's time for a little singsong and we like to sing the
song 'Auld lang syne'. Now I say sing most people in the UK don't actually know the
words and so they tend to sing a couple of the lines that they do know and then
mumble the rest of it.
But we enjoy doing it anyway and while singing we all hold hands together but
we cross our arms and do this with our hands I don't really know why, there is
an origin story to this tradition but I haven't found it out yet. And if you're
one of those people who doesn't know the lyrics but wants to learn the lyrics
just like me, I have just done a video for you which is linked in the
description box below so you can check that out in just a moment. Also at
midnight if it's a big organised event you can almost guarantee that there will
be fireworks and I know in London there is a huge firework display with lots of
people lining up along the banks of the River Thames to watch the incredible
fireworks going off along the London skyline this is also televised so if you
don't fancy making your way into London, fighting with the busy crowds then you
can just watch it on your telly. Now I grew up in the north of England and I
know in the north of England and in Scotland we have a tradition called
first foot, and this basically is someone bringing in the new year so you have to
pick someone in your household to bring in the new year. They must leave the
house before midnight and then they must be the first person through the door
once midnight has struck. Now the tradition states that you have to be
careful who you choose to bring in the new year. I think that if they're tall
and dark-haired then that is luckier than someone who is blonde-haired for
example and so this tall dark person will go out of the door and they'll wait
until the new year has been announced and then they'll walk in and wish
everyone a Happy New Year, and usually they should bring gifts. These gifts each
will represent a good fortune for the year ahead, so for example they will
bring a coin, and that coin will represent financial prosperity in the
new year. They might bring something to eat like bread and that bread will
represent food and nourishment for the new year.
As a little girl I remember bringing in a lump of coal and the coal represented
warmth. They might bring in some salt or some seasoning for flavour, and finally
they bring in a drink of something so maybe a little bottle or a big bottle or
a hip flask, and this represents good cheer and happiness. And then we dance,
drink, eat, spend time with our friends our family, or some people just go to bed.
And that is the start of our new year. Is it any different in your country? I'd
love to know, so please do let me know in the comments box below. Now next year on
this channel there's going to be more of the same and lots of different things as
well. I'm going to be very very busy. I'm hoping that you will be involved in
everything that goes on here next year. I'm very excited about the future.
There are also some exciting things coming for those people who financially
support this channel, my patrons, so patrons hold on to your hats, 2018 is
going to be a good one. I've got lots of rewards coming your way.
Ok guys, until next time have an incredible New Year's Eve I look forward
to seeing you next year, take care and goodbye.