每到年末，总有各种机会让我们可以大肆庆祝。
The end of the year always brings plenty of opportunities for celebrations.
然而，除了香槟，聚会，和老友叙旧外，这也是一个适合反思的时候。在过去的12个月里，你的目标都实现了么？年初信誓旦旦许下的诺言是否有坚持下来呢？在年尾的熙熙攘攘中，我们特别容易忽略一些事情，所以2016年的最后一篇文章，就让我们回顾下在这一年里发生在italki.com的那些积极向上的事情吧。
However, alongside the champagne, parties, and catching up with old friends, it’s also a time for reflection. Did you achieve everything you’d wanted in the previous 12 months? Did you stick to your New Year’s resolutions as firmly as you’d intended? With everything that’s been going on, it’s easy to have overlooked a few things. So, for this final article of 2016, we’re going to go back and focus on some of the more positive things which have happened on italki.com over the past 12 months.
如果想要学习一门新语言的话，那2016无疑是个绝佳的开端。
This year has actually been a great one for getting involved in a new language.
italki.com的职业老师队伍不断壮大，而在热情高涨的语言学习爱好者的添砖加瓦下，众多短小实用的文章层出不穷，大家在网站上交流想法，分享学习技巧，人生哲学和各种观点。
italki.com’s growing band of professional teachers and enthusiastic language learners have made the website a thriving hub for sharing ideas, tricks, philosophies, and pointers through the use of short and informative articles.
正在阅读本文的你，想必也或多或少看过几篇我们的文章，以寻求语法建议或者学习几个新的单词吧。
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably clicked on one or two yourself, hoping to pick up a handy piece of grammar or some new vocabulary in your target language.
但那些因各种原因和你擦肩而过的好文呢？
But what about all the articles you’ve missed?
不用担心，值此年终之际，让我们来关注下从italki网站才华横溢的老师们提交的实用短文里挑选出来的精品文章吧。说实话，优秀文章太多太多，这些只是我的个人最爱。
Well, to finish the year we’re going to focus on some of the best articles submitted to italki.com from a variety of talented teachers. To be fair, there are too many great ones to pick from, but here are a few personal favorites.
即使你没在学习以下的任何语言，但这仍是一个极好的机会，可以让你一睹对那些世界上最广泛使用的语言的基本原理的精辟分析，对热爱学习的人来说，这无疑是一场盛宴。
Even if you’re not learning any of these languages, they still provide a fascinating insight into how some of the world’s most widely-spoken languages work - a feast of information for anyone who loves learning.
所以，不要用你没学过俄语来推脱，也不要说一想到要看一篇关于中文学习的文章就充满恐惧。无论是来激励未来的语言学习，还是提高第二语言的学习能力，这些文章都同样适用。
So, don’t be put-off if you’ve never studied, say, Russian in the past. Or if the thought of jumping into an article about Chinese fills you with dread. These articles are as equally suitable for inspiring a future language-learning journey as they are for improving your current second-language abilities.
那么下面就让我们来看看2016年最棒的最具启发性的语言学习文章究竟有哪些吧。
So, let’s jump in and look at the some of the most fascinating and illuminating language learning articles in 2016.
速成课程助你解密西班牙人的西班牙文
A crash-course in deciphering native Spanish
西班牙人终极沟通指南
The Ultimate Guide To Understanding Spanish Speakers
如果每一位母语人士都像语言老师那样说得清楚明了无疑是再好不过了，可是事实是残酷的。
It would certainly be nice if every native speaker spoke with the clarity and exactness of our language teachers. However, that is rarely the case.
以西班牙文为母语的人常常会习惯性的漏掉某些音节以便把几个单词连在一起说，这往往让学西班牙语的人觉得很头疼，而在这篇文章里，英语和西班牙语老师Nikki J追根溯源，向大家解释了其中原委。
English and Spanish teacher Nikki J gets to the root of the matter in this article as she explains how the native habit of blending words together and missing out sounds completely often causes major headaches for language-learners.
此外，文章里还给了很多帮助克服语言学习难题的小诀窍，这对所有语言学习者都是非常有用的。
This article also contains some great tips on overcoming language difficulties which should be useful to learners of any language.
助你掌握日语句法规则
Helping you make sense of Japanese word order
令人抓狂的日语句法
Crazy Japanese Word Order
作为一个非母语者，我一直觉得，单纯的从审美角度来说，日文无疑是一门非常独特和优美的语言。然而，我不得不承认我从没想过和我的母语英语相比，日文的句法规则是如此的困难。因此，Yuri的这篇文章真的让我大开眼界。
As a non-Japanese speaker, I’ve always considered it such a distinctive and beautiful language on purely aesthetic terms. However, I’ll admit I’d never considered how different the syntax might be from my native English - so this article from Yuri was a real eye-opener.
Yuri在文章里向大家阐述了日文句子的语序结构和英文之间的巨大差异。如果你是像我这样对日语一无所知的新手，这篇文章能让你对日文略知一二；而那些早就已经开始学习日文的学生，则能通过此文加深理解日本人在句子里是如何优先排列某些部分的。
Yuri explains how the word-order of Japanese sentences differs greatly from what we would expect in English. Being suitable for complete novices (like myself) all the way up to those who’ve already started learning the language, it’s a great way to get a taste of the language or to improve your understanding of how Japanese-speakers prioritise certain concepts.
说实话，“I, today, on italki.com, alone, the article, read’ 是我能说出的最完整的日文了。
In fact, the sentence “I, today, on italki.com, alone, the article, read’ is the closest I’ve ever come to speaking Japanese.
如何用数字和中国人聊天
How ‘text-speak’ in Mandarin uses numbers
520: 神秘的密码信息
520: Secret Coded Messages
任何小于某一年龄的说英文的人都对“信息用语” 无比熟悉，手机刚开始流行的时候，年轻人用这些词来发信息聊天。‘C U L8R!’（See you later! 一会见）和 ‘GTG!’ （Got to go! 要走了）应该是大家最常用的了。可你是否知道中国的年轻人也发明了一套属于他们的短信用语呢？
Any English speaker under a certain age will be all-too familiar with the ‘text-speak; teenagers used to communicate in the early days of mobile phones - ‘C U L8R!’ (See you later!) and ‘GTG!’ (Got to go!) - being very common forms. But who knew Chinese-teenagers also employed their own slangy abbreviations as well?
Amy Lin在文章里向大家解释了中文同音异义这个特点，而这也使得中文成为了最佳的“密语”，仅仅通过几个数字就能传达各种信息。听上去有些匪夷所思是不是？
In this article, Amy Lin explains how the homophonic nature of Chinese Mandarin means the language is perfect for conveying ‘secret coded messages’ with just strings of numerals. Who knew?
赶快阅读全文发现为什么1314520是爱你一生一世的意思吧！
Check out this article to find out how 1314520 can be translated into ‘Forever, I love you’.
通过一些“向后看”的俚语让语言学习更上一层楼
Moving your learning forward with some backwards slang
La Verlan：一种十分特殊的法语俚语
La Verlan: A Very Specific Type Of French Slang
学习一门外语早就已经是件非常困难的事情了，可有时，本地人的一些坚持往往会使其难上加难。
If learning a language wasn’t already difficult enough, sometimes the locals insist on making it that much harder.
在这篇文章里，作者解释了法语俚语，特别是音节的倒序排列组成一个“向后看”的词，而这让我对真正掌握并能流利运用一门语言有多难这事有了更深刻的理解。
This article on French slang - specifically the reversal of syllables to form a ‘backwards’ word - opened up a whole new understanding of how hard it is to get a truly fluent understanding of a language.
这种叫做verlan的俚语已经有数百年的历史了， 其实是一种语音的逆转（l’envers），是不是有点烧脑？
This form of slang, which actually dates back centuries, is called verlan - a phonetic reversal of l’envers (which means ‘reverse’ in English). Confused yet?
相信我，看完这篇文章后你就不会这么觉得了。Mathieu很好得解释了其规律，并给了不少例子帮助读者练习。
You won’t be after reading through this article. Mathieu offers a great explanation of how this works including examples of dialogue to get you started.
如何让故事变得栩栩如生？
How to bring a tale to life
说一个有趣的故事
Telling Funny Stories
有些文章看似在说某种特定语言，可其中原理却适用于所有语言的学习。英文作家，旅行家Mark Jones的这篇文章无疑是个中翘楚。
Sometimes an article focusing on one language can hold some universal truths and this one by English writer and traveller Mark Jones is a prime example.
讲故事是个很难掌握的技巧，设定故事背景，加入细节和一丝幽默让故事更加丰满，了解你的听众，这些都很难做好。而在这篇文章里，作者一一阐述了以上种种难题。
Telling stories is a tricky task to master - setting the scene, adding detail and humour, knowing your audience - and in this article we get to hear about all of it.
事实上，无论你用英文还是斯瓦西里语“扯谈”，本文都能让你从中受益。
In fact, whether you’re ‘spinning yarns’ in English or Swahili, this advice should keep you in good stead.
为什么所有的东西都能在德语里找到对应的单词？
Why German has a word for almost everything
德语特有的10个既有用又有代表性的单词
10 Useful And Typical Words Specific To The German Language
德语是一门复合型的语言，只要把现有的单词组合在一起，就能得出一个新单词。让Sherin来教你吧!
German is a compound language - meaning new words can be formed by ‘mashing together’ existing words. Sherin shows you how it is done!
在实践中，这意味着德语用一种最独特的方式来表达感情和观点，往往我们都能理解，可是如果要用自己的语言表达的话，却要用上1，2句话。
In practice, this means that it is one of those languages which has the most unique ways of expressing sentiments and concepts which we all understand but would normally take a sentence or two to express in our own languages.
举例来说：Der Kummerspeck 来自于Kummer（悲惨，不幸）和Speck（腌肉／脂肪），它的意思是当一段感情壮烈结束时我们吃的安慰食物。
Take for example Der Kummerspeck - deriving from the words Kummer (misery) and Speck (bacon/fat) - means the type of comfort food we crave after an especially emotional end to a relationship.
我觉得我还可以举个例子，但是我真的不想让这篇介绍变得verschlimmbessern（越来越糟）。
I feel I could give another example, but I certainly don’t want to verschlimmbessern this introduction!
思想的美食 - 意大利俚语盛宴
Food for thought - a feast of Italian idioms
俚语：意大利烹饪传统之旅
Idioms: A Journey Into The Culinary Heritage Of Italy
如果在聊天时谈到“意大利”，那么最终主题变成美食则毫不奇怪。毕竟披萨，意大利面等风靡全球的众多美食都源于这个国家。
Mention ‘Italy’ to someone and it’s not a surprise if the conversation turns to food. This is the country, of course, where pizza, pasta, and other delicious meals originated before spreading rapidly to every corner of the globe.
鉴于意大利人对美食的关注，意大利语里有很多和食物相关的俚语也绝对在意料之中。
And unsurprisingly given Italians’ preoccupation with eating, the language is also infused with food-related idioms.
如果你想知道‘have ham over your eyes’ 或者 ‘as full as an egg’究竟是什么意思，记得向italki的意大利语老师Cinzia求教哦。
So, if you want to know what it means to ‘have ham over your eyes’ or to be ‘as full as an egg’, let italki.com teacher Cinzia enlighten you.
从说故事到数字代码，瀚海的语言学习之海里有很多东西等着我们去发现。花些时间认真读读italki文章，看看文章里给全世界的语言学习者送上的各种语言的迷人的一面吧。而最重要的是，让我们一起展望2017，一起期待italki的老师们给大家带来的超级棒的文章，一起继续学习吧！
From storytelling to code numbers, it’s a big world of languages out there to know. Take a moment to appreciate italki articles for the exposure they bring learners around the world to the fascinating side of the languages they study. Better yet, look forward to the coming year of literary contributions from italki’s awesome teachers and all the learning ahead.
