马巧爱

morpho books

figure drawing for all it's worth (+ creative illustration)

framed ink

will eisner comics and sequential art

will eisner graphic storytelling and visual narrative

understanding comics (+ making comics)

folder of various animation production art

burne hogarth drawing dynamic hands

perspective for comic book artists

michael mattesi force drawing

the animator's survival kit

color and light james gurney

Being older now and having an art job it’s…kind of essential. 

So: a quick primer for those of you who are like ‘ok but how do i actually go about doing this warmup thing.’ 

1) you may be tempted to do ‘a warmup drawing’ which is just a drawing that will take longer than it needed to and probably be frustrating and kind of bad because you didn’t warm up first. It’s tempting but always a trick your brain is playing on you! Do not trust! 

2) warmups will vary based on what feels good to you/what task you’re about to do/what motor skills you want to practice. That being said, some good standbys:

a) circles. Just a whole page of circles on whatever drawing surface you’re going to be using, whether that’s your tablet or your sketchbook or a drawing pad on an easel. For these circles you should make sure that you’re drawing from your shoulder and not your wrist. In fact, you want to be drawing from your shoulder rather than your wrist most of the time! forever! your wrist is delicate please preserve it! 

In order to ensure that you’re drawing from your shoulder, when you’re holding your pencil or whatever drawing tool you’re using, the only part of your hand that should be touching the drawing surface is part of the last two fingers–some people prefer the finger tips, but I tend to favor the first knuckles. Either way, the fingers should really be ghosting over the surface, providing guidance rather than support. 

I usually start with big circles and then go to smaller circles and lines of ellipses, and then try to fit circles and ellipses inside other shapes i’ve already drawn as a precision exercise, but i don’t do that unless i’m feeling loose

b) spirals! i don’t always do spirals, but if i’m stiff and the circles just aren’t cutting it, spirals are a good fall back. I start from the center and work outward, going both clockwise and counterclockwise until i feel comfortable with the whole range of motion. Some people really care about getting perfect spirals but for me it’s all about making sure i’m comfortable with how i’m moving so who really even cares about how the spirals look. Not me! 

c) lines! straight lines! in parallel! i do a mix of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. These are often more from the elbow than the shoulder, especially if I’m working on a smaller surface. For this exercise, I recommend holding the drawing tool perpendicular with the surface

d) connect the dots. This is a precision and accuracy exercise and takes two forms. The first is to draw two dots and then draw a straight line between them. The second is to draw three dots and draw the curve that connects them. This sounds a lot simpler than it is in practice. Take time to ghost over the line you plan to draw before actually committing to your line. (I don’t always remember where I picked up my warm up exercises, but I’m pretty sure I got this one from Scott Robertson. His how to draw and how to render books are very technical but also accessible and worth checking out)

e) cubes, spheres, cones, and cylinders. These help get your brain into a more volumetric space. I draw multiples of each, rotating the forms around, and I’ll often take the time to do some rough shading on at least a few of them

f) spidermans! This one is really good if you’re going to be storyboarding or working on dynamic poses. Just fill a page full of spidermans doing all sorts of acrobatics. 

g) beans. I don’t do beans too much anymore, but I know a lot of people like it so I’m mentioning it here. Fill an area with different size bean shapes without lifting your pencil off the paper. 

h) short medium and long line repetition. draw a short, medium, and long line on your page, and then draw directly on top of them 8 to 12 times, doing your best to exactly trace what you’ve already drawing. Repeat with a wavy line. I’m bad at this one, which means I probably need to do it more. 

And there are lots more options too! Hit up youtube to see what other people recommend, put together your own go-to list, mix it up when you’re getting bored, etc. 

This is a long list, I know, but I usually don’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes to warm up, and I can warm up one handed while I’m drinking coffee, so, multitasking hurrah. 

Sometimes I’ll advance to a precision warmup and find that I haven’t loosened up enough yet; it’s totally ok to go back to an earlier exercise! Also, all of this has the added benefit of kind of ritualistically getting you into the drawing mode so even if I’m not feeling it before I start, by the time I’ve gotten to the end I’m usually Ready For Drawin’. Brain hacks. 

https://youtu.be/NBE-RTFkXDk

莫得暇耗于此，凡构衅者，皆拉黑之。

and

Both with a total of 64 strokes. Both of these consist of a single 16-stroke radical repeated 4 times. There's another 58-stroke character which uses multiple radicals

Meaning biangbiang noodles

However, in Japanese, there is a very rare kokuji (kanji created in Japan) with 84 strokes

also written as

燕 yàn - swallow (bird) / 16

蕾 lěi - bud / 16

凝 níng - to congeal, to concentrate attention, to stare / 16

霏 fēi - fall of snow / 16

霖 lín - continued rain / 16

腾 téng - to gallop, to prance, to soar, to hover, to make room, to clear out, to vacate, verb suffix indicating repeated action / 16

儒 rú - scholar, Confucian / 16

赟 yūn - good appearance / 16

熹 xī - bright, warm / 16

臻 zhēn - to arrive, to reach (esp. perfection), utmost / 16

薇 wēi - Osmunda regalis (a species of fern) / 16

璐 lù - beautiful jade / 17

翼 yì - wing, area surrounding the bullseye of a target, to assist, one of the 28 constellations of Chinese astronomy / 17

霞 xiá - rose-tinted sky or clouds at sunrise or sunset / 17

繁 fán - complicated, many, in great numbers / 17

濠 háo - trench / 17

鹭 lù - heron / 18

麒 qí - mythical male unicorn / 19

瀚 hàn - ocean, vastness / 19

馨 xīn - fragrant / 20

耀 yào - brilliant, glorious / 20

巍 wēi - lofty, towering / 20

曦 xī - sunlight (usu. in early morning) / 20

露 lù - dew, syrup, nectar, outdoors (not under cover), to show, to reveal, to betray, to expose / 21

灏 hào - vast (of water) / 21

懿 yì - exemplary, virtuous / 22

麟 lín - female unicorn / 23

鑫 xīn - used in names of people and shops, symbolizing prosperity / 24

Plus some "exclusive" characters for all those who use traditional characters: These do not meet the criteria in their simplified forms.

穎 yǐng - head of grain, husk, tip, point, clever, gifted, outstanding / 16

龍 lóng - dragon, imperial / 16

興 xīng - to rise, to flourish, to become popular, to start, to encourage, to get up / 16

鴻 hóng - eastern bean goose, great, large / 17

禮 lǐ - gift, rite, ceremony, propriety, etiquette, courtesy / 17

瀅 yíng - clear, limpid (of water) / 18

藝 yì - skill, art / 18

豐 fēng - abundant, plentiful, fertile, plump, great / 18

懷 huái - bosom, heart, mind, to think of, to harbor in one's mind, to conceive (a child) / 19

鵬 péng - Peng, large fabulous bird / 19

麗 lì - beautiful / 19

瀟 xiāo - (of water) deep and clear, (of wind and rain) howling and pounding, (of light rain) pattering / 19

寶 bǎo - jewel, gem, treasure, precious / 20

蘭 lán orchid, elegant, graceful / 20

鶴 hè - crane / 21

權 quán - authority, power, right, to weigh, expedient, temporary / 21

艷 yàn - colorful, splendid, gaudy, amorous, romantic, to envy / 24

And as a bonus, consider changing your last name to a surname such as:

薛 Xuē, 霍 Huò, 戴 Dài, 魏 Wèi

盧 Lú, 賴 Lài, 閻 Yán, 錢 Qián, 韓 Hán, 鍾 Zhōng, 謝 Xiè, 簡 Jiǎn, 蕭 Xiāo, 顏 Yán, 龐 Páng, 譚 Tán, 關 Guān, 嚴 Yán, 羅 Luó, 顧 Gù, 蘇 Sū, 龔 Gōng

because (sometimes) they motivate me

How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky

The secrets of learning a new language | Lýdia Machová

How to learn any language in six months | Chris Lonsdale | TEDxLingnanUniversity

Learning a language? Speak it like you’re playing a video game | Marianna Pascal | TEDxPenangRoad

Why We Struggle Learning Languages | Gabriel Wyner | TEDxNewBedford

5 techniques to speak any language | Sid Efromovich | TEDxUpperEastSide

Breaking the language barrier | Tim Doner | TEDxTeen 2014

How to learn any language easily | Matthew Youlden | TEDxClapham

The Irish Language and Beauty | Dónall Ó Héalaí | TEDxBerkeley

How to Talk Like a Native Speaker | Marc Green | TEDxHeidelberg

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

Hacking Language Learning: Dr. Conor Quinn at TEDxDirigo

How learning German taught me the link between maths and poetry | Harry Baker | TEDxVienna

We'r Needin tae Talk Aboot Wir Language | Michael Dempster | TEDxInverness

One Simple Method to Learn Any Language | Scott Young & Vat Jaiswal | TEDxEastsidePrep

Learning a Second Language | Shinyoung Grace Kim | TEDxYouth@AISR

(these posts are not my own!)

THE HOLY GRAIL of language learning (-> seriously tho, this is the BEST thing I’ve ever come across)

Tips:

Some language learning exercises and tips

20 Favorite Language Learning Tips

what should you be reading to maximize your language learning?

tips for learning a language (things i wish i knew before i started)

language learning and langblr tips

Tips on how to read in your target language for longer periods of time

Tips and inspiration from Fluent in 3 months by Benny Lewis

Tips for learning a sign language

Tips for relearning your second first language

How to:

how to self teach a new language

learning a language: how to

learning languages and how to make it fun

how to study languages

how to practice speaking in a foreign language

how to learn a language when you don’t know where to start

how to make a schedule for language learning

How to keep track of learning more than one language at the same time

Masterposts:

Language Study Master Post

Swedish Resources Masterpost

French Resouces Masterpost

Italian Resources Masterpost

Resource List for Learning German

Challenges:

Language-Sanctuary Langblr Challenge

language learning checkerboard challenge

Word lists:

2+ months of language learning prompts

list of words you need to know in your target language, in 3 levels

Other stuff:

bullet journal dedicated to language learning

over 400 language related youtube channels in 50+ languages

TED talks about language (learning)

Learning the Alien Languages of Star Trek

.

I’ve been keeping a list of words/characters related to times of day since last year. You probably know basic words like 早上, 上午, 晚上, etc. But there are so many other words and characters you may encounter in your language journey! Note: this list isn’t meant to be complete.

Sunset (I think) by Tian’anmen Square about 3 years ago.

Dawn/early morning

天亮 tiānliàng - dawn / daybreak

日出 rìchū - sunrise

早 zǎo - early / morning / Good morning! / long ago / prematurely 一大早 yīdàzǎo - at dawn / at first light / first thing in the morning 早上 zǎoshang - early morning

旭 xù - dawn / rising sun

昕 xīn - dawn

晓 xiǎo - dawn / daybreak / to know / to let sb know / to make explicit 破晓 pòxiǎo - daybreak / dawn

晗 hán - before daybreak / dawn about to break

晞 xī - dawn / to dry in the sun

晨 chén - morning / dawn / daybreak 凌晨 língchén - very early in the morning / in the wee hours 早晨 zǎochén - early morning 晨曦 chénxī - first rays of morning sun / first glimmer of dawn 清晨 qīngchén - early morning

朝 zhāo - morning 朝阳 zhāoyáng - the morning sun

黎明 límíng - dawn / daybreak

The single characters above can be found in Chinese names. Some are quite common.

I don’t really talk about cdramas on this blog except for this one ask I responded to over 1 ½ years ago. I’ve been branching out and watching more Chinese-language shows lately, so I thought I’d share what I’ve been watching.

Already watched:

《想见你》 Someday or One Day Unless I’m forgetting something, this was the first Chinese-language show I ever finished (I previously started but abandoned a few others). It’s a love story but also a mystery and kind of a time travel story, so it really has something for everyone. I am not a romance fan, but I ended up crying over the relationship. I was somewhat disappointed by the movie version, which only made me think more highly of the show honestly.

《开端》 Reset I couldn’t watch this show late at night because it really got my adrenaline pumping, and I just couldn’t turn it off! If you want a show that that will have you on the edge of your seat but also has a more human side, then definitely check this out. The characters were very memorable, and the show was the perfect length in my opinion. I think this show deserved all the hype it got.

《流星花园》（2018） Meteor Garden (2018) I decided to check this out because I’ve seen a lot of reference to Meteor Garden over the years. I chose the 2018 version because I could not bring myself to look at 2001 hairstyles. This show starts out as kind of an enemies-to-lovers story but then shifts to just a romance story. My interest waned a bit by the second half—I think they should have kept it under 40 episodes. I also didn’t really care for the subplots involving the secondary characters. 

《摇滚狂花》 Rock it, Mom This was a very short drama and a quick watch. It’s about a has-been rock singer reuniting with her estranged daughter. At first, it felt fresh and interesting, but it got old fast. I felt like the characters didn’t have much growth or development. I also found the ending to be unsatisfying.

Currently watching:

《消失的孩子》 The Disappearing Child I’ve been watching this show gradually with my friends, and we’re almost done! We’re all really enjoying it. As the name suggests, there is a child who disappears, but there’s also two other storylines involved. We were going crazy trying to guess how the three would connect. Now that the plotlines are starting to converge, the payoff is insane. This show will hook you instantly but also keep you on your toes. 

《猎罪图鉴》 Under the Skin I am about 1/3 through this show, which I’m watching…with my dad! It follows an artist working as a police sketch artist and a police detective, both of who are haunted by a past murder that connects them. I don’t think this show is very realistic, and it’s also hard to follow at times, but I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

《你安全吗？》 Are You Safe? I watched the first few episodes of this show but then stopped because I was watching too many shows at once. I’m determined to at least give it another go. So far it’s about a man who works as a technology consultant/vigilante hacker(?). I’m not sure where it’s going because frankly I don’t remember what has happened so far.

《她和她的她》 Shards of Her I literally just started this show, so I don’t even really know what it’s about or what will happen. But it looked interesting, and I heard it was good. 

On my radar/watchlist:

《隐秘的角落》 The Bad Kids

《沉默的真相》 The Long Night

《狂飙》 The Knockout

《摩天大楼》 A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower (shoutout to @liu-anhuaming)

《回来的女儿》 Homesick

About three years ago, I watched 创造101 Produce 101 China, and it kinda changed my life. Yes, really! This show dragged me down a rabbit hole that eventually led to me watching many more Chinese shows and listening to almost exclusively Chinese music. I’m even branching out to cdramas now. All under the guise of, um, improving my listening comprehension!

OK, so “all the Chinese idol survival shows” might be an exaggeration. I’ll be talking about these three classic idol group survival shows from the “golden age” period of 2018-2021:

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

创造101 Produce 101 China

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

Here is the order I actually watched these 10 seasons in:

创造101 Produce 101 China

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

I started 创造101 Produce 101 China in late 2019/early 2020 and finished 少年之名 We Are Young on Christmas Day 2022. I was literally tearing up. Three franchises, ten seasons, something around 1000 contestants, and three years of my life.

In order to refresh my memory for this post, I rewatched almost all of the performance clips from these shows. I didn’t watch the initial evaluations or any practice room videos (it’s simply too much content). It was simultaneously fun and exhausting. I will go over why you should/shouldn’t watch each season and give any other notable remarks. Let’s get started!

*Please note that for any YouTube links below, there is a risk of muted sections, parts/entire episodes being unavailable, and missing/out of sync subtitles. For official links, whether or not a VIP subscription is needed may change in the future. Fansubbed content may have sections or entire episodes missing.

- TTMIK (what kind of list about learning Korean wouldn’t have them??? Haha)

- How to Study Korean

- Lingo Deer

- 90 Day Korean

- Korean Class 101

- italki

- YouTube (Channels like GO! Billy Korean, Natalia Garza, Your Korean Saem, Lindie Botes, Korean Unnie, etc)

- Memrise

- Naver (Naver Dictionary, webtoons, Jr. Naver, Papago, Books, Movies, Vibe)

- Viki (literally obsessed with this site. Next best thing since DramaFever died. RIP)

All links on the blog post underneath!

Did I miss anything? Leave your favorite Korean resources below pretty pls - I am *always* looking for more!!

Highly recommend this podcast! This is the first time in my life I’ve ever truly enjoyed and looked forward to a podcast (including English ones).

They have four hosts, all of which are gay men in Korea, and they talk about a really wide range of topics with various guests. In season 3 they’ve been focussing on the “ordinary queer” life (some brief episode synopses at the end of the post), but in the previous seasons (which I’ve not listened to yet) it sounds like they talked about more activist stuff.

Their audio quality is excellent + they speak slowly and clearly (compared to other native podcasts lol). Minimal talking over each other. And their voices are nice to listen to! (No seriously the audio quality is amazing for an amateur podcast because they actually use a recording studio.)

The PC is a pun on the regular definition of PC방 lol, initially I thought they were going to be like… talking about computers? But in a gay way? 😂 but it actually stands for politically correct lmao i.e. they’re going to talk about things with as much sensitivity & respect as they can.

Overall, it’s super interesting, funny, and really just struck a chord with me, esp knowing how Korea is… hm… not very progressive 😬

Their main platform is 팟빵, but they’re also on google podcasts & Apple podcasts. Google podcasts is more user friendly but if you enjoy their content pls go support them on 팟빵 as well! (Also if anyone listens to it and wants to chat about it feel free to PM me! I’m dying to talk to find people to talk to about it. I can probably help you out if you don’t understand sth as well although my comprehension isn’t 100% yet)

~ some episode synopses under the cut ~

(Korean-Learning Content)

Here Is A List Of Most Of The Content I Have Made So Far. (you can only add 100 links per post, so I have to make a second part I guess🤡. I'll link to it in this post whenever I finish doing that.)

Note: these are in no particular order. It's kind of all over the place, but it should still help you out😂

Beginner Topics

1. Seasons in Korean

2. Months In Korean

3. Vowels Hangul Short Quiz

4. Beginners Vocab Short Quiz

5. Days Of The Week

6. Tell Date In Korean

7. What's Next After Learning Hangul?

Korean Grammar

아니요 vs 아니에요 vs 아니라

는데, 은데, 인데 Lesson | All Usages

Masterlist Of Beginner Korean Grammar

좋다 vs 좋아하다

기 때문에 & 아/어/해서 & (으)니까

-안 vs -지 않다

How To Say "IF" In Korean

How To Ask Questions In Korean

(으)러 가다, (으)려고 하다, 기로 하다 Lesson

(으)ㄴ지 Lesson

Korean Dialogues & Conversations

1. Mini-Korean Conversation | Topic : Coffee | #1

2. Intermediate Korean Convo | Topic : Amusement Park | #2

3. Korean Conversation - Grammar-Focused | Topic : Haircut | #3

4. Low-Intermediate Korean Convo | Topic : Meeting For The First Time | #4

5. Grammar-Focused (ㄹ때, 지 말라고, & 어/아야 겠다) | Topic: Kids On Their Phones | #5

6. Beginner Korean Conversation + Lots Of Beginner Grammar Covered | Topic : Deciding Where To Eat | #6

7. Beginner Korean Conversation | Topic : Drawing

8. Korean Convo | Topic : Karaoke | #8

9. Intermediate Korean Dialogue | Topic : School-Related | #9

10. Beginner Korean Dialogue | Topic: Birthday presents

11. Short Beginner Dialogue | Topic : meet up

12. Beginner Korean Conversation | Topic : Taking Pictures

13. Intermediate Korean Dialogue | Topic : The Best Way to Make Ramen

14. On The Phone With My Girlfriend

15. Sending A Text To The Wrong Person

Reading Practices & Stories

Reading Comprehension Test | Topic: small talk

Story About Friend Moving Away

Listening Practice

Beginner Listening Practice #1

Korean Listening Practice #2

Korean Listening Practice #3

Vocabulary Lists

1. Jobs & Occupations List In Korean

2. School Vocabulary

3. Korean Homonyms | Part 1

4. Night-Themed Vocabulary List

5. Korean Homonyms | Part 2

6. Word Of The Day ~ 거북이

7. Mini-Vocabulary List - Weather

8. Common Korean Verbs > Short Video

9. Mini-Vocabulary List - Nature

10. Language Learning Vocabulary

11. Korean Homonyms | Part 3

12. Word Of The Day ~ 불

13. Word Of The Day ~ 약간

14. Health & Medical Terms

15. List Of Adverbs

House Vocabulary

16. Commonly Confused Korean Words 1

17. Commonly Confused Korean Words 2

18. Commonly Confused Korean Words 3

19. Korean Fruit Names

20. Korean Homonyms

21. Flower Vocabulary Words

22. Korean Love Words | words & phrases w/ 사랑

23. 지금 vs 이제

24. 알아듣다 vs 이해하다

25. Korean Synonyms

26. Korean Filler Words

27. Korean & Japanese Words

28. Korean & Japanese Words (part 2)

29. Hair Vocabulary

30. Shapes In Korean

31. Korean ROOT Words

Korean Numbers

1. How To Count From 1 to 1000 using Sino-Korean Numbers

2. The Difference Between Sino & Native Korean Numbers

3. Korean Numbers Quiz > 1 to 100

4. Korean Numbers Quiz > 100 to 1000

Idioms & Phrases

1. Korean Proverbs

2. 김새다 = Ruin The Fun | Idiomatic Expression #1

3. 어쩔 수 없다 = It Can't Be Helped | #2

4. How To Say Ignorance Is Bliss | #3

5. 쓸모가 없다 = It's Useless | #4

6. 기가 막히다 ~ "to be at a loss for words" | #5

7. 기가 죽다 ~ lose confidence/less energy and feel depressed | #6

8. How To Say I Don't Care | #7

9. 말도 안돼요

10. Motivational Korean Quotes

11. Idioms That Are Too Relatable

12. Korean Break-Up Lines & Quotes

13. Funny Korean Expressions

14. Non-Basic Korean Phrases

Tongue Twisters

1. Mokdong Royal | Short Tongue Twister | #1

2. 경찰청 ~ Police Headquarters | #2

3. Longest Korean Tongue Twister + Breakdown | #3

4. 3 Short & Fun Korean Tongue Twisters

5. Short Korean Tongue Twister: Moon

6. Giraffe Tongue Twister

Korean Culture

1. List Of Korean Holidays

2. Difference Between North & South Korea

3. Tropes Seen In Kdramas

Interesting Random Topics

1. 3 Ways To Say 'Heart' In Korean

2. Korean Text Slang

3. Korean Combination Words

anon asked: I see a lot of posts on Tumblr about 이/가 but they just leave me more confused. Can you help? thanks

Sentences to Showcase the Usage of 이/가 and 은/는: [+what are they?]

Please go here for more context on how/when to use them. This post will be kinda long, so I’ll put a TLDR at the top.

TLDR; if the main noun is an agent then use, 은/는 or if the main noun is an experiencer, then use 이/가

Now, what the hell is an agent or an experiencer. A good way to figure this out is to ask yourself, “is the entity doing the action or undergoing the event?” 은/는 are general particles (commonly used for the agent as they are the ones doing or causing the action), whereas 이/가 are particles used to emphasize (commonly used for the experiencer as they are in contact with the event; I will explain more later in the blog). Both are nominative—which is what makes the argument of “subject” and “topic” extremely confusing and meaningless because they don’t accurately identify the noun’s role in the sentence.

I am fortunate enough to have studied thematic roles and syntax in depth during my time in linguistics, however, I understand that a lot of my followers haven’t! So, I will give you a visual:

So again, ask yourself, “who/what is doing/causing the action?” or “who/what is undergoing the event?” Sometimes, it is also easy to look at the verb or adjective and make a judgement there considering it's common** for 이/가 to go with adjectives and common for 은/는 to go with verbs. Another way to think about it: if you need to place emphasis on the agent, then you can use 이/가.

** just because it's common, it does not mean it's a rule (however, it is a good tip)

Below is an example of why the above statement is not a rule.

이다 [to be] is special because it is a copula. A copula is a verb that joins/links the main noun and it's complement. We have many copulas in English (BE, feel, smell, look, become--to name a few). Korean has three: 이다, 아니다, and 되다.

Let’s try to place it in a sentence where both 은/는 and 이/가 occur in contrast:

매일 신발들은 신어야 하는데 오늘은 이 신발이 안 신으면 안 돼요

In the sentence above ^^, the dependent clause [매일 신발들은 신어야 하는데] gives background information for the main clause [오늘은 이 신발이 안 신으면 안 돼요]. “Generally,” the speaker says, “everyday I have to wear shoes, but I must wear these shoes [specifically] today.”

The sentence shows that there is something emphasized about the shoes; “these shoes must undergo being worn by me”. Whatever the reason may be, the speaker intentionally highlighted the shoes in the second clause as the ones that they must wear that day.

Summary so far:

1) If the main noun is doing the action, use 은/는

2) If the main noun is undergoing the action, use 이/가

3) If you want to emphasize the main noun, use 이/가

Hopefully, you’re still following me. Let’s look at other examples:

오늘은 날씨가 좋아요 - today, the weather is good 

그 이어폰은 제 게 아니에요 [게 = 것+이] - Those earphones aren’t mine

새로운 선생님이 여자예요 - the new teacher is a woman

선생님은 한국 분이 아니에요 - the teacher is not Korean

제 이름은 지연이 아니고 희주예요 - My name is Heeju, not Jiyeon

비빔밥 말고 다른 한식이 있어요? - Other than bibimbap, do you have other Korean food?

그 남자는 캐나다에 갈 때 미혼이 아닐 거 같아요 - I don’t think that man will be single if/when he travels to Canada

Here’s the worst part; sometimes, there’s no fkn difference between the meanings. Which also makes it confusing. So, try to stick to the rules in the post linked and the patterns from this post. 

1. Use 이/가 after an object when you’re describing an agent’s feelings or state of mind 

EX. 존은 책을 읽는 게 좋아요; 존은 책이 좋아요 = John likes (reading) books

2. Use 이/가 after the noun that precedes (goes before) a copula

EX. 존은 한국에 온 지 3년이 되었어요 = John has been in Korea for 3 years

3. Adjectives and Intransitive verbs (no object), can take on 이/가 if you want to emphasize the main noun

EX. 내일은 날씨가 바람이 불 거 같아요 = It seems like it’s going to be windy tomorrow

4. Transitive verbs (takes an object), usually use 이/가 for the first noun and 을/를 for the object

EX. 존이 이를 닦는 중이에요 = John is [in the middle] of brushing his teeth

Okay! I really hope this helped! If there’s still any confusion, please don’t hesitate to send me a message to ask for clarification or more examples! 이/가 and 은/는 are honestly some of the hardest for English speakers learning Korean to grasp because we don’t really have particles like this that distinguish nouns in English. Though, with this, I hope you can get better at it!

Happy Learning :)