Season’s Greetings from the ProLingo Team

December 12, 2023

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'Tis the season to spread joy and good cheer to those near and far. As the holiday season kicks into high gear, it's important to embrace the diversity of customs and traditions around the world. So, whether you're hosting a global celebration or embarking on a holiday adventure, knowing how to say "Happy Holidays" in different languages can add a special touch.

While Christmas may hold a special place in your heart, it's crucial to respect and acknowledge that not everyone celebrates this holiday. By fostering inclusivity and understanding, we can ensure that the holiday spirit is shared with kindness and consideration for everyone's beliefs and customs. So, recognize not everyone shares the same level of enthusiasm for this time of year.

"Happy Holidays" is now a widely accepted greeting that encompasses the joyful season from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. Although it has sparked some controversy in recent years, it has been used in the United States for over a century as a seasonal greeting. Nonetheless, let's embrace the spirit of celebrating one year's end and another's beginning by spreading happiness, regardless of special beliefs or customs.

Top 25 Ways to Say “Happy Holidays”

The global village is a melting pot of cultures and languages. At ProLingo, we celebrate the unique beauty and distinct characteristics of world’s top languages for business and personal use. In 2023, the languages listed below stood out for their large number of speakers.*

So, here’s “Happy Holidays” to you spoken in:

English – Happy Holidays (1.45 billion speakers) Mandarin – Jiérì kuàilè  (1.18 billion speakers) Hindi - chhuttiyon kee shubhakaamanaen (602 million speakers) Spanish – Felices vacaciones  (534 million speakers) Arabic – ajazat saeida  (372 million speakers) French – Joyeuses fêtes  (300 million speakers) Bengali – Subha chutira dina  (265 million speakers) Russian – Schastlivykh prazdnikov  (258 million speakers) Portuguese – Boas festas  (223 million speakers) Swahili – Likizo Njema  (200 million speakers) Indonesian – Selamat berlibur  (200 million speakers) Urdu –  (170 million speakers) Japanese – Tanoshi kyuka o o sugoshi kudasai  (150 million speakers)

German – Schöne Ferien  (135 million speakers) Punjabi – Chuti'am mubaraka  (125 million speakers) Farsi –  (110 million speakers) Javanese – Sugeng Riyaya  (98 million speakers) Wu Chinese – Jiérì kuàilè  (90 million speakers) Vietnamese – ngay le vui ve  (87 million speakers) Italian – Buone vacanze  (85 million speakers) Turkish – Mutlu tatiller  (85 million speakers) Marathi – Sutticya subhecha (85 million speakers) Telugu – Subha selavudinalu  (82 million speakers) Tamil – Makilcciyana vitumurai natkal  (78 million speakers) Korean – haengboghan hyuil  (77 million speakers)

While the increasing usage of “Happy Holidays” has sparked some controversy, let's remember that not everything needs to be cause for concern. While language learning may not be a top priority in the United States, it's not all doom and gloom. Whether you're enchanted by the sound of Spanish, captivated by the complexities of Mandarin, or swayed by the rhythm of English, learning new languages can broaden your horizons and open up exciting new possibilities.

^{*Source – Broward College Language Center, “Most Spoken Languages in the World in 2023” by Federico Blank, April 23, 2023.}

 

"Here's wishing you the fondest Season's Greetings and continued Happiness into the New Year!"

 

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If you’re planning a global expansion strategy, understanding the importance of the spoken and written languages of world is crucial to levelling the playing field in the business world. Whether your language needs are for the workplace or personal growth, ProLingo can provide accurate translations and interpretations to open up new horizons to expand your business’s cultural understanding.