“果皮”笔友网 外国笔友 英文笔友 penpalling penmatters.org

关于 笔友通信的一些知识（英文）

Letter writing is an art form that one should encourage to stay alive. From making gothic lolita penpals to creating your own scented ink and sealing wax, we show how to explore letter writing as both an ancient medium... And arts and crafts.

笔友间信笺通信是一种文化，需要被传承。从自己制作黑白的萝莉信封到制作自己的香墨，封蜡，我们会让大家体验下古代的风尚以及艺术。

In an era when communication is constant and instantaneous, the postal system may be just as threatened as the newspapers seem to be. To be honest, writing letters really isn't very practical. It's not as reliable as picking up the telephone or seeing someone in person - who hasn't had to worry that invitations to a tea party will get lost in the mail? - and it's not nearly as fast as e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter. Letters and envelopes use far more resources than it does to tap out a text message, so one could even argue that letter writing is bad for the environment.

在通讯技术发达的今天，邮政系统如同报纸一样，被通信技术挤兑着生存空间。说实话，写信十分不靠谱，这不像拿起电话或者亲自去看一个朋友一样来得实在，你难道不会担心请帖会在邮寄过程中丢了？确实不如E-mail，facebook和推特快捷。信件和其他的磁带或短信来比，也会用到很多其他的资源，有些人也会因此说写信笺对环境有害。

But, as Oscar Wilde said, "All art is quite useless". Letter writing may be something of a forgotten art, but when done properly, it is still definitely an art. Besides, finding something in your mailbox other than bills and ads, something with your name carefully printed on it - well, I think that's a good deal more satisfying than just a quick, digital message.

但，像王尔德说的：“所有的艺术都无用”。信笺应该是一种被遗忘的艺术，但是如果操作好，写信仍然是一种艺术。另外，在你的邮筒中发现除了广告以及账单以外的东西 ---- 印着你的名字，我想这一定比一个电子短信让你感觉棒得多；

Chances are that you, Dear Reader, often see your friends in person or make use of the various social networking systems. What, then, can you write to them about? Encoded letters, in either a classic code like Morse or an encryption system of your own design, make writing to someone you see everyday far more exciting. (It is also a good way to prepare for a future career in the Slinky Secret Agent field.) Exchanging poetry by mail is also something to do with your geographically-close friends, and also rather romantic. Waka, a form of Japanese poetry, was exchanged in ancient Japan between lovers instead of letters in prose.

各位看官，应该经常访问朋友，或者使用不同的社会化系统来进行交流互动。恩，但一般你们都会和朋友们写点什么呢？编了码的信，像传统的摩斯密码，或者一些自己发明的加密信笺会让写信和读信变得更加兴奋。（也可做特工前的锻炼哦），与和你近距离的朋友交换信笺，也是非常浪漫的一件事。Waka，日本的一种诗体，曾在古代被用作情人之前秘密传递爱慕，这种和传统书信就很不同。

Penpals, though somewhat of a modern invention, (the term wasn't recorded until 1938) are still a fun way to exchange letters. Traditionally, penpals are people who don't live nearby, but there's no reason you can't be penpals with your next-door neighbour. If you do want a foreign friend, these fine organisations may be able to help you out:

“笔友”这个词多少有点现代发明的味道（直到1938年这个词才被记载），如今很多人依然乐此不疲，进行信笺写作来交流思想。传统意义上，笔友应该是距离很远的，但是现在来说，笔友是你的邻居也不是不可能。如果你想交个外国朋友，那么以下这些网站组织可能会帮到你：

Penpal organizations 笔友组织

Lolita penpals 洛丽塔笔友会

This penpals website is more or less a directory of people interested in both Lolita culture and letter-writing with similarly minded penpals. They seem to be a friendly bunch.
这个笔友网站或多或少得聚集了一批对“Loli文化”以及“复古信笺”感兴趣的笔友们。他们看起来非常友善。

http://penpalsjpg.com/ （暂时不能访问）

Make your own account on this penpals website and browse through accounts of other people interested in finding penpals. Emphasis is placed on language exchange. The website also provides tips on penpal manners, such as what penpals should include in their first letter.

用此网站建立你自己的账户，然后浏览那些和你一样对笔友感兴趣的人。本站主要是注重语言的交流。网站也同样提供笔友交流之间的“礼仪”，比如笔友们一般在首次通信时都说些什么。

http://www.world-pen-pals.com/request.htm

This penpals website is more geared towards a classroom-setting and requires a registration fee of 3 USD. You don't know what sort of person you'll be writing to, beyond age, gender and nationality, but at the same time, you don't have to create an account. This organization's main attractor is that it has a physical location and phone number.

这个笔友网站更像是为课堂学习定制的，网站会要求大约3美元的注册费用。你不会知道给谁写信，没有年龄，性别和国籍的概念，但同时的，你也不需要自己的账号。此网站比较吸引人的地方是它有个实际的地址，另外有固定电话。

Also, your local foreign language teacher might be able to recommend a website or group for finding penpals.
当然，你的外语老师也会帮助你推荐网站或笔友团体来进行练笔。

【果皮笔友网】 penmatters.org