새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy New Year to all of our Daily Tokki newsletter readers!

"새해 복 많이 받으세요" is the most common New Year's greeting in Korea. It isn't just for Jan 1st, but also during 설날 (Lunar New Year). Good phrase to know!

새해 복 많이 받으세요 = 새해 (New Year) + 복 (Luck/Blessing) + 많이 (A lot/Plenty) + 받다 (To receive) + ~으세요 (Grammar modification for "Please do X")

As is usual for this time of year, we set goals and resolutions (in Korean 새해 목표, new year + goals) for what we want to accomplish for the year ahead. So, in that line, let's take a look at how to talk about New Year's resolutions in Korean!

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One very common thing is making a resolution and then just a few days in already messing up. In Korean, you'd say: 

작심삼일 = A resolution that lasts 3 days

But we're all hoping you succeed, so let's focus on that!

Self-improvement and financial freedom are super common ideas over in Korea, so it's not uncommon for resolutions to include:

• 다이어트 하기 = dieting
• 운동 꾸준히 하기 = exercising
• 한국어 공부 하기 = studying Korean 😉 (although, realistically, Koreans would say 영어 공부 하기)
• 독서 하기 = to read books

An interesting one that is meant to convey living a productive, diligent, and exemplary life is:

갓생 살기 = to live a 'God-life'

In recent years, there has been a shift toward focusing on mental peace and work-life balance as well! 

• 워라밸 지키기 = to maintain work-life balance
• 나를 더 사랑하기 = to love myself more
• 여행 자주 가기 = to travel often
• 취미 생활 하기 = to take up a hobby

You might have noticed that ad the end of all of these there is -기 this is turning each of the verbs (가다, 살다, 하다, etc.) into nouns. So, instead of "to go travel", it reads like "going traveling".

In addition to goals and resolutions, because this year is the Year of the Red Horse (병오년), you'll find there is a bit of a theme of "running forward" and energy for this year. For instance, one great one is:

초심 잃지 않기 = 초 (First/Beginning) + 심 (Heart/Mind) + 잃다 (to lose) + ~지 않다 (grammar modification for "to not do X")

And more on-the-nose ones like:

말처럼 힘차게 달리자 = 말 (Horse) + ~처럼 (like/as) + 힘차게 (powerfully/vigorously) + 달리다 (to run) + ~자 (grammar modification for "let's")

Side-story about the naming of years

In Korea, it is very common to start your greeting for the new year with something like:

병오년 새해 복 많이 받으세요!

But where does this naming for the year come from?

The 간지 system is basically a cosmic clock that connects our lives to the cycles of nature. It’s made up of two parts: the 십간 (10 Heavenly Stems) and the 십이지 (12 Earthly Branches). The 십간 are based on five elements:

• 갑 & 을 = Wood (Blue)
• 병 & 정 = Fire (Red)
• 무 & 기 = Earth (Yellow)
• 경 & 신 = Metal (White)
• 임 & 계 = Water (Black)

Each of these elements gets a specific color assigned to it, and since each element appears twice, we get 10 stems. On the other side, the 십이지 are the 12 zodiac animals we all know. They were used to make the whole complex calendar way easier for everyone to remember!

Because these two cycles rotate together like gears, it takes exactly 60 years to get back to the same starting point. Below is a figure that helps illustrate this!

This 60th anniversary is a huge deal in Korea and is called:

환갑 = 60th birthday / "Returning to the beginning"

It’s seen as a total "rebirth." It means you've successfully finished one full journey through the universe's calendar and you're officially starting your second life cycle.

Since we’re in 병오년, we can see exactly how this works:

병 = The stem for Fire / Red

오 = The branch for Horse

년 = Year

So when you put it all together, you get the Year of the Red Horse!

So, what are your resolutions this year? We'd love to hear them! ☺️

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