Sen Tan Jie Kuai Le!

Sen Tan Jie Kuai Le! That's Merry Christmas in Mandarin, the most widely spoken language in the world. I could sense your eyebrow raising on that claim. Yes, English is only second to Mandarin in the number of speakers. If ever your teacher once told you that English is the most widely spoken language, not really. Well, not necessarily false. It may be, if we count the number of countries with a considerable number in their respective population that speak and read/write English. But if you count the raw number of mouth speaking, Mandarin reign number-1. That said, and considering the ever growing economic clout of Chinese or Chinese-origin people, some Mandarin could prove to be advantageous.

Sen Tan Jie Kuai Le! It is written in Chinese as
Read the characters Sen-Tan-Jie-Kuai-Le, in the same order. It roughly means "Happy Festival for Birth of Saint". That translation is mine, and I took it from individual meaning of each character which goes

Sen = Saint , Tan = Born, Jie = Festival, Kuai Le = Happy

Saint + Born + Festival + Happy. Figure it out, re-arrange to make sense.

Others do not use Sen, they use Ye which means Jesus. The 1st character will change, so in Mandarin it will beRead as Ye-Tan-Jie-Kuai-Le, it will mean Jesus + Born + Festival + Happy. The meaning isn't too hard to decipher.

One very important thing to remember in speaking Mandarin is the delicate inflection of tone in each syllable. There are 5 tones necessary to master speaking Mandarin, but it would take too long to write in here. You can make the tone natural though, pronounce the e in Sen and Le in the lower-heavy tone just like the 1st e in "where" (sounds like combined e-a). Alright?

Make it sound more authentic, use a little more personal greeting like

Merry Christmas to you : Tsu Ni Sen Tan Jie Kuai Le
Merry Christmas to all : Tsu Ni Men Sen Tan Jie Kuai Le

Easy, right? Goodluck! Try it to your Chinese,Taiwanese or Singaporean associates. If they respond with a bewildered look, say it once more. If the puzzled look persists, you can always say you just mumbled a greetings from some little-known dialect in the Philippines! Lusot :)

Merry Christmas everyone! We wish all Pinoy in Taiwan, in the Philippines and everywhere in the world a happy, blessed and abundant Christmas Season! Maligaya at mapayapang Pasko sa inyong lahat! Maayong Pasko sa inyong tanan! Naragsak nga Paskua yo amin! Ye Tan Jie Kuai Le!


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