Russian New Year (Новый год) and the First Encounter

Topics: calendar 
Keywords: Hack Your Russian  unforgettable russian accent  Yeah Russia  RussianPod101  Russia Beyond  Brezhnev  Yeltsin  Putin 

Of all the Russian holidays and traditional days, and there are many, New Year or Novy God is perhaps the most important. Also, a holiday of at least two days: it starts on 12/31, with Christmas, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving, All Rolled Into One (The New York Times, 2018).


Begin = continuation

Linked to New Year is a Russian saying (in the realm of superstition) that can sound both motivating and ominous. Как встретишь Новый год (How you begin/meet the New Year), так его и проведёшь (is how it will go). A good reason to celebrate with everyone, but that’s more complicated now.

Advice for a good start during hard times can be found in Если ты один и дома. Новый год в условиях пандемии: как встретить его с оптимизмом (Союз, 2020). See/read Тайные ритуалы: как правильно проводить старый и встретить новый год (MarieClaire.ru, 2020), «Как Новый год встретишь»: самые популярные новогодние приметы (1obl.ru, 2019), Новогодние приметы (Relax.by) and ВикиЧтение (WikiReading).


Speech

In nearly every country, at the start of a new year, the head of state appears on TV – to say little, wish well, and then return to their palace. In Russia, the president’s speech happens the night before, not on January 1.

The most recent edition (so far) can be seen in Новогоднее обращение Владимира Путина 2020 (говорим по-русски правильно, formerly русский с носителем, 2019, 4 m), and also in Learn Russian with Vladimir Putin (2020). Of more historical interest is the first speech from 1999, inextricably tied to Boris Yeltsin’s last one. See also The day Boris Yeltsin said goodbye to Russia (BBC News, 2017, 4 m).

Leonid Brezhnev’s speech for 1979 (9 m) gets better with every passing year.



Language

The Russian way to say Happy New Year is с Новым Годом, which puts New Year (новый год) in the instrumental case, meaning “with the New Year,” making additional wishes for happiness or congratulations unnecessary. More (and often the same) can be found in:

See/read How To Say “Happy New Year” In Russian (Planet Russia, 2019), Happy New Year in Russian (RT.com) and Новый Год по-русски – A Russian New Year: Language Lesson (Folkways, 2019).


Celebrations, Traditions, History

That and more in the six videos below.


How do Russians celebrate New Year | Как русские празднуют Новый год
(Hack Your Russian, 2020, 14 m)



New Year in Russia 2021! History and traditions of winter holidays in the USSR
(unforgettable russian accent, 2020, 10 m)



Russian Christmas (New Year) | Traditions, Symbols and History
(Yeah Russia, 2019, 10 m)



How to Celebrate New Year in Russia
(RussianPod101, 2018, 5 m)



How do Russians celebrate their main cultural occasion – New Year?
(Russia Beyond, 2018, 7 m)

Also, from the same channel, 3 little known New Year traditions in Russia (2020, 7 m).



Russian Holidays - New Year’s Day - Новый год
(RussianPod101, 2014, 3 m)

From the same channel, Learn Russian Holidays – Old New Year (2018, 3 m), and How to Say Happy New Year in Russian & New Year Wishes (2017).



More

See:

See/read:


с Новым Годом everyone!

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