Dark Academia Tips

1. Buy an oversized suit jacket- if you’re male, say it was your mother’s, for peak androgyny. If you’re a woman, say it’s your father’s for the same effect. If you’re nonbinary, tell them your parents are dead and you bought it with your sizeable inheritance. (Note: Have a sizeable inheritance.)

2. If you are of the makeup wearing persuasion, buy copious amounts of either expensive red wine, or if you’re a minor, blood of virgins. Use it as a lip stain. (If all else fails, ox-blood colour lipstick works.) If you don’t wear lipstick, avoid chapstick for 3 ½ months so you can achieve the ghostly look. (Or just cover your lips in concealer and blend.)

3. Carry either a poetry or a satire book with you at all times. Even if no-one asks, recite small passages. I recommend The Modest Proposal or anything by Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas, Oscar Wilde, or Lord Byron. (If you are tiring of Oscar Wilde, look at his lover Lord Alfred Douglas’ works.)

3. Constantly have a bored expression. Your personality is now bored. If you are on a rollercoaster, scream like “aaaaa” instead of “AAAAH”. If you find this impractical, simply revert to feral terror or a knowing smirk.

4. Invest in a tote bag bearing a literary project. If the project references a philosopher, even better.

5. Have a small knowledge of Greek Mythology. Enough to make the average plebeian question how you spend your time.

6. Use proper English- and by that I mean, British English. To pull off the dark academia aesthetic, dynasty must be pronounced differently. If this fails, try a slight British accent to get you there- or at the very least, have proper enunciation.

7.If you choose a pet, choose a cat or a snake. If possible, wear the snake as a necklace. Bonus points for snake if a python, or black or green. If pythons are not available at your bequest, a cat will work- any colour, but black is always a classic. Make sure said animal will kill you in your sleep if given the opportunity. (Adopt black pets! They don’t get enough love.) 8. Learn an obscure fact daily to replenish your knowledge. Bonus points if you use long, hard to pronounce words in your description of the fact. You must tell everyone in the nearest mile this fact, if they ever so much as approach you. You yourself rarely start conversations, for you are antisocial and apathetic. (If your MBTI type does not allow for this, sigh frequently while talking about something obscure and/or dead. Wax poetic about your love of the Latin language.)

9. Be pretentious. After all, you are attractive, intelligent, and amazing. You have every right to love who you are. Insecurities are best left with your therapist, stuffed animal, or snake and cat. Be pleased with yourself, and carry yourself with pride. 10. If you must interact with someone who does not understand your academic intentions, be polite, if slightly disassociated from the entire situation. Do not waste your time or mind on people who will never understand you.

Random pieces of advice

The world is less scary and chaotic if you lie down on the floor

Noticing different kinds of light (stars, candles, sunshine or city lights) can bring back the feeling of wonder and hope

If you can’t shower, washing your hands and face will help you feel better and cleaner

If you can’t clean anything else, changing and/or washing your bedsheets can do wonders

Fresh air and being outside in general can help with depersonalisation

Spending time around animals can help you recognise what’s important and calm anxious thought cycles

Techniques for emotional regulation in children can really help adults too

Putting random asortment of food on a plate without creating an actual dish still counts as a meal

Drink something warm

Delete that app

Treat yourself as if you were a kid. Buy yourself a toy, play around, learn about cool new things

Fast paced life isn’t morally better and it’s not good for everyone

There is no good reason to keep yourself hungry

Singing to your full lung capacity can be a great way to let out built up emotion

Tension in the face can cause headaches. Try to massage your face regularly

Nothing is as important as your health

You are a whole person on your own, you don’t need someone else to be there to deserve love and attention. Your life can be full as long as you are present

You should cry things out whenever you feel like it

Slow walks are still movement and they do count

It’s never as bad as you imagine it

Try changing your toothpaste flavor if you hate brushing your teeth

Anything can be a stim toy - one of my favourites is a heavy dragon necklace that has a complicated surfice. It’s fun to touch and hold and it’s not even “actual” stim toy

Procrastinating and feeling bad about it is true waste of time. Learn to truly rest. It takes the same amount of time but it is useful

Sometimes you have to force yourself to do the things that make you feel better

Don’t trust the thoughts you have after not sleeping for a while

Friendships don’t have to be forever to mean something

22K notes View Post

faunjo

4 years ago

Hey, how do you learn Italian? what textbooks and apps do you use? Can you give any tips for someone who is just starting out? Thanks in advance?

Hi!! Thank you for your question.

Here is a rough plan I made when I started this blog, which is July 2017. It contains a list of resources I was using at the time. I don’t have access to my Schaum’s vocabulary book at the moment, but I’ll be resuming it when I get home. I would definitely recommend it if you’re an intermediate learner like me.

Other resources I’ve used consistently over the past few months are:

this website for free ebooks

this website for free audiobooks

raiplay for series and films (I also watched Suburra on Netflix, it’s brilliant and you should go watch it right now)

Eduopen.org and federica.eu are two websites that contain MOOCs in Italian, if you’re into that

You could also consider getting the raiplay radio app on your phone to listen to the radio, podcasts, and audiobooks. Note that not all of their content is available outside Italy.

My routine is now doing a MOOC class (making notes and looking up new vocabulary) in the evening, or going on tandem and chatting to people, because I really have to focus on university studies. (I 100% recommend getting tandem on your phone. It’s free and really fun)

Before that, I used to read a lot of articles on La Repubblica - just pick a section that interests you. I liked reading outloud to practice speaking, and it also made me focus on the text more. At the end you could make a list of words you don’t know. I also used to watch Cucine da Incubo (the Italian version of Kitchen Nightmares) and the dubbed version of The Nanny, there are lots of other fun programmes available on youtube so just look for something you find interesting. That way you won’t feel bad about procrastinating.. because you’ll be doing it in Italian!

Here are some other useful posts with resources (links included)

radio stations

podcasts

movies and series

a masterlist of italian resources

My tips for someone who is just starting out would be:

Do something every day. Or every other day, if you have little time. This is a lot better than just doing a lot on one day and then doing nothing for the next week or two, or three… your brain won’t retain new information if you don’t practice

Make it fun and varied. I don’t use apps like memrise, duolingo, etc for any of my target languages because I find them very boring and repetitive. Find a routine that works for you.

If you are a complete beginner, take your time to understand the grammar. Verb drills, gender agreement, articles, and the like. Find a grammar book you like and stick to it. You could look up exercises online to complement it.

Again, if you’re a complete beginner, start by listening to Disney songs! Look up the lyrics, print them out or write them down if you like, highlight new words, try to translate the lyrics line by line, and/or learn the songs by heart. When you’re a bit more confident in the language, find artists in genres you like and listen to them, and do the same. I listen to a lot of rap music, for example. I look up the lyrics on rapgenius and try to follow them and understand what they mean.

I know I’ve said this before, but go on tandem. Try to have a conversation, even a very simple one. Ask your language partner to correct you if you make a mistake.

Good luck!!! If anyone else has tips or resources for beginners, it would be lovely if you added them to this post!