I've always loved Christmas, particularly for getting together with friends and family - less so the last-minute dashes around shops on Christmas Eve, but some of my most unforgettable Christmases have happened away home. One year I was in Bolivia over Christmas and spent the morning on a sun-drenched terrace squeezing limes for the caipirinhas my little group was contributing to a shared hostel feast with fellow travellers. A couple of Christmases were spent in Barcelona from where I still vividly recall the intense smells and noisy excitement in food markets, as wads of euros were exchanged for a few fancy prawns and other fresh fish and seafood ready for Christmas Eve feasts. Sunny walks around the port and beach were also much enjoyed and there was minimal fuss over presents because the Caga Tío had already visited kids at school, Santa had filled up stockings, and the big gifts didn’t appear until the Reyes Magos (3 Kings) visited on the eve of 6th January! All so refreshingly simple and relaxing and all the more joyful!

This year, I’m looking forward to hearing about my elder daughter’s first Christmas abroad. She’s on her gap year in South America, fully immersed in the culture - thanks to speaking Spanish. It’s exciting to think about how she’ll celebrate with new friends and traditions and reminds me yet again just how much learning another language opens doors to experiences that might otherwise get missed.
While we sit down to turkey dinners, pulling crackers and opening piles of presents in the majority of homes in the UK on the 25th December, step into a French, German, or Spanish-speaking country, and you’ll find many more ways to celebrate Christmas - less commercial and more focused on conviviality and connection. Yes, there are presents, but the spotlight often falls on family, food, and community - joys that last from the opening of festive markets late November, through Advent and in many places until 6th January at the earliest! It’s a reminder that the heart of Christmas isn’t in the shops but around the table.
Embracing or borrowing traditions from other cultures can add a fresh spark to your own celebrations. You can't really avoid Lebkuchen, Stollen (bites) or Panettone these days in UK supermarkets and delis, but why not try making your own, or try a new recipe such as an Argentinian 'Torre de panqueques', Latin American tamales, a Mexican 'Ponche Navideño or German Feuerzangenbowle, or a French pain d'épices. Or go a step further and enjoy a whole feast on Christmas Eve this year - your very own réveillon with oysters and a bûche de Noël, a Heiliger Abend with raclette or Kartoffelsalat, or a Nochebuena with seafood or a roast suckling pig - and then relax on Christmas Day! Maybe you could give presents early or take inspiration from Spain and save the big gift-giving for January 6th!

Learning about and trying out some of these traditions is not just fun; it’s meaningful and it shows how much we have in common as well as what we do differently. If you speak the languages, you’ll also notice how even festive greetings reflect cultural nuances, offering glimpses into how language reflects local traditions, religious influences, and communal priorities during the festive season, eg:
In French, people wish each other "Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année", expressing a grounded and balanced hope for the year ahead, rather than fleeting happiness.
In French-speaking African countries, such as Senegal, the greeting becomes more overtly religious with "Que Dieu te bénisse en cette saison de Noël!" (May God bless you this Christmas season).
Meanwhile, in Québec, you’ll often hear the general holiday wish "Bon temps des fêtes!" (Happy holiday season), embracing the festive period as a whole.
In German, the Christmas greeting is "Frohe Weihnachten", while for New Year, they say "Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!"—wishing you a good slide or smooth transition into the year ahead.
In Austria, the greeting "Gesegnete Weihnachten" (Blessed Christmas) reflects the country's deeply Catholic traditions.
In Spanish, "Felices Fiestas" (Happy Holidays) is becoming a more inclusive greeting, alongside the classic "Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo", which takes an optimistic, forward-looking approach, wishing others a prosperous New Year.
In Mexico, the greeting carries a tone of love and peace: "Que pases una Navidad llena de amor y paz!" (May you have a Christmas full of love and peace).
In Argentina and Uruguay, you might hear "Felicidades en estas fiestas!" (Best wishes this holiday season).
Colombians often take a spiritual tone with "Feliz Navidad y un Año Nuevo lleno de bendiciones" (Merry Christmas and a New Year full of blessings).
Meanwhile, in Peru and Bolivia, the focus is on family: "Que tengas una linda Navidad con tu familia" (May you have a beautiful Christmas with your family).
So, as we deck the halls, decorate the biscuits and settle in for a season of festivities, let’s remember to look outward. There’s a whole world of ways to celebrate, and by embracing them, we’re not just learning about others — we’re enriching our own lives, too.
Looking ahead to 2025
This time last year, we had just captured and created our first authentic immersive experience from a visit to a marché de Noël in Arras, Northern France...
2024 has been a whirlwind, but we're already looking forward to capturing and creating many more authentic immersive 360° VR and multi-sensory experiences in the new year to add to our menu of 5 in total so far, and to fulfilling our mission of bringing the joys and rewards of languages and cultural travel to more people in more schools, care homes, workplaces and beyond, to infuse a passion for languages and a curiosity about and connection to other cultures, for this is the most magical gift of all.
Get in touch if you would like to collaborate or partner with us in the new year to create content or to sponsor our visits and enquire now to express your interest in our visits!
For now, it just remains for us to wish you happy holidays, a joyful Christmas with your family and friends for those who celebrate it, and may you slide well into a good and prosperous new year full of blessings!
Comments