How to say "at the start of the year" in this context?
'伊始' is mostly used in literal form, a classical counterpart of a common phrase '開始'(begin)

[伊始] 开端;开始。伊,助词,无实义
[伊始] 'start; begin.  [伊] auxiliary word, no real meaning

&quot;At the start of the year,&quot; should be translated as:

&quot;在年初&quot;(at the start of the year)

&quot;今年初&quot;(at the start of this year).


&quot;今年開始的时候&quot; is grammatically correct but, too wordy for day-to-day speech.

&quot;今年伊始&quot;, or do you need to say, &quot;今年伊始的时候?&quot;

&quot;今年伊始&quot; = &quot;at the start of this year&quot;
&quot;今年伊始的时候&quot; = at the time this year begun&quot;
You can use either.