On New Year’s Eve people all around the world celebrate at midnight according to their own culture and customs. People might attend parties or host them, watch fireworks with friends, dance and sing songs or gather together with family for a special meal at home. Some people prefer to treat the night like any other and sleep through it! Of course, this year most people will be celebrating at home due to the current pandemic.

One tradition in much of the English-speaking world is the singing of Auld Lang Syne – but what does this phrase mean? Read on to learn more about this interesting New Year tradition and discover what we have in store for English language learners and teachers in 2023!

 

The meaning of Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish poem written by Rabbie Burns in 1788, set to the tune of a traditional folk song. Many people in the English-speaking world sing this when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The Scots phrase ‘auld lang syne’ can be translated into English literally as ‘long time since’. In modern English, we would say something like ‘times gone by’ or ‘days of long ago’.

The song Auld Lang Syne is about remembering people from the past and preserving old friendships.

When singing the song on the strike of midnight on New Year’s Eve, people often cross their arms and hold the hand of the person next to them, often forming a circle.

 

Although Auld Lang Syne has a number of verses, we usually only sing the first part and the chorus when celebrating the New Year. The words usually sung are:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

 

The last line of the chorus is often sung with the words ‘For the sake of auld lang syne’, translated roughly as ‘for the sake of days gone by’.

Of course this all sounds so much better when sung with a Scottish accent!

The words of Auld Lang Syne translated into modern English would be:

Should old acquaintances be forgotten
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintances be forgotten
And days gone by!

For days gone by, my dear,
For days gone by.
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For (the sake of) days gone by.

My English Language plans for 2023

We hope the last 12 months have been enjoyable and productive and you are raring to get stuck into another year of English language learning and teaching!

We’ve been busy setting our language resolutions – and it looks like it’s going to be an exciting year ahead. Here at My English Language, we’ve planned a year filled with new EFL resources, including plenty of teaching tips and new language guides, particularly in our ‘essential English‘ section.

We have a host of fresh articles and blog posts ready to unleash for both students and teachers of EFL, with new study guides, travel articles, cultural explorations and lesson ideas to improve your teaching and learning.

We’ll be keeping you up to date on Twitter with the latest goings on in the EFL world and publishing lots of new articles and blog posts to help with your English study sessions throughout the year.

 

Don’t forget to leave a comment on your favourite articles and blog posts – we’d love to hear from you!

How will you be celebrating on New Year’s Eve? Vote in our poll and share your plans in the comments!

Happy New Year to all our language-loving friends!