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I’ve been working on being more conscious of how I write emails, and made this handy printable guide! I have a bad habit of overusing exclamation points, emojis, and qualifiers like “just” and “possibly” to sound extra-friendly and non-threatening in emails. (“Just wondering / just confirming / just checking / just making sure / just wanted to let you know”) You are allowed to take up space. Your voice deserves to be heard. Your opinions matter. You don’t need to apologize for existing or asking for what you need. You are not “bossy” or “bitchy” for not sounding like a pep-machine 24/7. If you act like a doormat, you better develop a taste for shoe leather. You have power too. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself— no one else is gonna do it for you.

Instagram Recommendations for Korean Learners

1. redhair_enne 빨강머리N is a collection of short comic strips with a few panels each. They comment on the daily life of one character, who tends to be very relatable. The dialogue isn’t overly complicated and fairly easy to follow along for most upper beginner to intermediate learners. 2. dbqudwo333 (유병재) 유병재 has a lot of fun interaction with his fans and fellow entertainers that results in simple jokes often relating to his likeness appearing frequently throughout the internet that he posts on his insta. It’s fun when you catch an interesting play on words and self-deprecating humor is almost always enjoyable. 3. do_hada do_hada is a motivational intagrammer who posts commentary and quotes on life and how to live happier. In a few panels, this resource will help inspire you while you’re learning Korean. Vocab tends to be less basic due to the subject matter but is also not overly complicated. 4. gooooseok gooooseok’s short comic strips cover anything from current movies to life struggles. The commentary is simple and entertaining and the accompanying drawings are enjoyable. Intermediate learners will find this instagram a fun way to learn. 5. insight.co.kr Insight Korea’s an instagram posts news stories from the newest celebrity army enlistment to the installation of free wifi at the Han river. This is a great resource to not only develop language skills but to also learn more about current events in Korea as they develop.

not much going on for april, v quiet month when it comes to school (obviously), but may is exam month so things will probably change soon

thank god for muji

instagram / youtube

JULY 19 / 2019 

me: hey bud u have a lot of work to do 

also me: its fine i can watch netflix

me later: *gets stressed over the work i ignored*

me: :0 

I'm a big fan of extensive reading apps for language learning, and even collaborated on such an app some 10 years ago. It eventually had to be shut down, sadly enough.

Right now, the biggest one in the market is the paywalled LingQ, which is pretty good, but well, requires money.

There's also the OG programs, LWT (Learning With Texts) and FLTR (Foreign Language Text Reader), which are so cumbersome to set up and use that I'm not going to bother with them.

I presently use Vocab Tracker as my daily driver, but I took a spin around GitHub to see what fresh new stuff is being developed. Here's an overview of what I found, as well as VT itself.

(There were a few more, like Aprelendo and TextLingo, which did not have end-user-friendly installations, so I'm not counting them).

Vocab Tracker

++ Available on web ++ 1-5 word-marking hotkeys and instant meanings makes using it a breeze ++ Supports websites

-- Default meaning/translation is not always reliable -- No custom languages -- Ugliest interface by far -- Does not always recognise user-selected phrases -- Virtually unusable on mobile -- Most likely no longer maintained/developed

Lute

++ Supports virtually all languages (custom language support), including Hindi and Sanskrit ++ Per-language, customisable dictionary settings ++ Excellent, customisable hotkey support

-- No instant meaning look-up makes it cumbersome to use, as you have to load an external dictionary for each word -- Docker installation

LinguaCafe

++ Instant meanings thanks to pre-loaded dictionaries ++ Supports ebooks, YouTube, subtitles, and websites ++ Customisable fonts ++ Best interface of the bunch

== Has 7 word learning levels, which may be too many for some

-- Hotkeys are not customisable (yet) and existing ones are a bit cumbersome (0 for known, for eg.) -- No online dictionary look-up other than DeepL, which requires an API key (not an intuitive process) -- No custom languages -- Supports a maximum of 15,000 characters per "chapter", making organising longer texts cumbersome -- Docker installation

Dzelda

++ Supports pdf and epub ++ Available on web

-- Requires confirming meaning for each word to mark that word, making it less efficient to read through -- No custom languages, supports only some Latin-script languages -- No user-customisable dictionaries (has a Google Form to suggest more dictionaries)

You’ve day dreamed enough about wanting that lifestyle. Now it’s time to make some moves.

hiii ! i'm a big fan of your blog i've found it vv inspiring re. my studies :) just wondering what sort of DA things you do outside of your studies / academic things you do in your spare time that aren't necessary to your grades ??

hey! here’s a list of academic things i do outside of university.

if your question was about my non-academic activities that are reminiscent of the dark academia genre, lmk and i’ll make another post!

i read a lot of literary fiction and poetry

i write poetry and am always on the lookout for lit magazines and journals/independent presses to submit my work to. i’ve been published a few times, i don’t really talk to my friends or family about it because i worry they would think i’m arrogant for mentioning it

before the quarantine, i went to art galleries and museums several times a month (i have a free annual pass) and learned a lot from each visit

i do freelance journalism; i interned at a news outlet last summer

i watch international and experimental cinema on criterion collection. i also sometimes go to an independent theatre that airs niche documentaries. i think it’s really important to expose yourself to thought-provoking films

ive been to a few book awards ceremonies + literary events with my mom and her friends before. i’d like to do that more often, especially since many of the events are free

i spend a lot of time in secondhand bookstores looking for old crumbling hardcovers. my friends and i often buy the same book, read it separately, and then report back to each other with impromptu reviews

hii i wanted to ask if there's a change in pronouncing the letters ㅈ,ㅅ,ㅊ when they're in the bottom like in 도넛 will it be doneos or doneot? i think these letters are pronounced as 't' when they're in the bottom. Could you clear the confusion please? Thanks!

Hi! Yes, that's correct! So when you have ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅉ, or ㅊ at the end of a syllable, it just makes a "t" sound. The word for donut, as you mentioned, is 도넛, and is pronounced do-neot, not do-neos.

If, however, a syllable ending in one of those is followed by a syllable that starts with ㅇ, then it makes the sound that it is supposed to. So if you have 도넛은, for example, that would be pronounced do-neo-seun. Think of that final consonant (known as 받침 in Korean) as "carrying over" to the ㅇ, which is silent in this case. Thanks for the great question and I hope this is helpful! 화이팅!

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IG: @_akadanie