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I celebrate just one New Year on January 1st. In the UK, many people see out the old year with a party, exchanging wishes for a 'Happy New Year' and raising toasts - and increasingly, letting off fireworks too. At midnight, as Big Ben strikes twelve, it's traditional for everyone to link arms and to sing 'Auld Lang Syne', an old Scottish folk song. 'Auld Lang Syne' roughly translates as 'old times' or 'days gone by', and the song refers to remembering old friendships - quite fitting perhaps at the end of a year. You can see the lyrics to the song and hear the tune on YouTube. Here is a version if you would like to listen to it:

In our house we do have a traditional meal for New Year - it's a dish called 'Scouse' and is from the North West of England. Traditionally, it is a stew made of lamb, carrots, onions - and lots of potatoes - and it is eaten with pickled red cabbage. At home we eat 'blind scouse' which is made without the meat as my husband and family are vegetarians.

I've celebrated New Year in a few places around the world, in Scotland where it is called Hogmanay, in Spain, where 12 grapes are eaten at each strike of midnight, and once I was in Beijing for the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year. It was a number of years ago, but I remember standing in a freezing park looking at the wonderful decorations, and watching the lions dance.

I love the photos you included in your last post, especially the photo of the women in national costume (by the way we tend to say national costume, rather than national outfit). I am looking forward to hearing more about 'Nauryz'.

I like that way that you take the best bits of your family's cultures, and mix things up. I particularly like the way your dad cooks traditional Kazakh food adding Korean touches! I've tried Korean food a couple of times, and love it, especially Kimchi...Mmmm, my mouth is watering!

Anyway, let's look at the language you used in your last post. As I said before, you have a really nice chatty style, and you use some good expressions - such as 'I must confess...' That sounds very natural.

I just wanted to write something about a couple of the words that you use. You talk about 'feasts' that you celebrate in your family.

A 'feast' is usually a special meal, often a large meal, with lots of people. A 'feast' can also be a celebration, but when it is used as a celebration it usually refers to a day when a religious person or event is remembered, for example, the feast of St James. You probably mean festivals, holidays or celebrations.

You also say: "We do it every year like common people". 'Common people' often has a certain meaning - it tends to mean people of a lower social class. If you call people 'common' then it can sometimes come across as a little offensive - that you are disapproving! It is better to say 'other people' here.

There are a couple of errors in the text too:

Instead of: As Korean we allowed to celebrate birthday only twice in our lives
You should say: As Koreans we are allowed to celebrate birthday only twice in our lives

Instead of: More excited was to hear from....
You should say: More exciting was to hear from...

And also: That's so unexpected to meet my countrymen here.
Here it would be best to use 'It's...' rather than 'That's...' as you are not referring to anything specific that you have already mentioned. You are introducing a new idea.

In your first post you also said: That story is not about my height, weight, and color of my eyes or whatever. That's about my nationality.
Again, you shouldn't use 'that' here - better to say 'This story is not about my height, weight, and color of my eyes or whatever. It's about my nationality.'

Next time you write, notice when you use 'that' at the beginning of the sentence, and think about whether it is the right word or not.

The final comment today is about this phrase: Like most of people around the world...
Here you should say 'Like most people around the world...'

Most versus most of

Here is your task today. What is the difference between most people and most of the people?

Can you explain the difference and write a sentence using each phrase to illustrate the difference?

Well, I will finish here. I look forward to hearing more about your life Marina,
Best wishes,
Kim

Vocabulary

echo = repeat
raise a toast = hold your glasses up at the same time and drink from them, in order to give good wishes - this usually happens at formal occasions
stew = a dish of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid
pickled = preserved in vinegar
strike = ring (of a clock)
roughly = approximately
fitting = appropriate or right
my mouth is watering = when your mouth waters, it produces saliva, because you can see, smell or are thinking of something nice to eat