I’m finally doing it. I’m teaching my kids Korean!
For years, my mom has been bugging me to teach my kids Korean, and I’ve been putting it off. Partly because it’s just a lot of work, and partly because I felt like it was her job.
I’ve seen so many grandparents spend time with their grandkids teaching them their native language, I had always hoped that my parents would also do the same for my kids.
But since my parents live halfway across the world, and they don’t plan on moving close to us anytime soon, I feel like I’ve held off long enough, and if I wait any longer, I might miss the window of opportunity.
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My Background in Korean
I’m ethnically Korean, but I was born in the US, and spent a huge chunk of my childhood in China (from ages 6-18). And then I returned back to the US for college. So you can say I’m a classic TCK with some identity issues.
I grew up speaking Korean with my parents at home. My mom taught me to read and write in Korean when I was in Elementary, and I lived in Korea for a couple years in my early 20’s teaching English. (Which was a massive culture shock. But that’s a story for another time.)
Our Home Language
Just a little bit about my boys as well, and what level and age-range these activities are geared toward.
My boys are 4 and 6 years old. My 6 year-old is a fluent reader (in English) and my 4 year-old is very comfortable with all the letters of the alphabet (identifying, sounds) and he knows a couple sight words as well.
They have definitely heard me speak in Korean to my parents and they are interested in Korean. And they know a few words for random things and food (since I cook Korean food). However, we don’t speak Korean at home, since my husband is not Korean. Our family’s primary home language is English.
Korean Alphabet Consonant Dot Marker Activity Worksheet
This week was our first week learning the Korean alphabet, and we started with consonants. To introduce this, I created these dot marker worksheets for them, similar to the English alphabet letters we worked on during preschool at home.
Kids can use dot markers or these circle dot stickers or even these cute stamp markers to fill in the circles on the worksheets. My kids ended up using stamp markers we bought at IKEA a couple years ago.
We worked on 3 consonants each day. For example, the first day, we worked on Gi Yeok, Ni Eun, and Di Geut. The next day was the next 3 consonants, etc.
I started each Korean “lessons” by asking them to repeat the names and sounds of the Korean consonants after me. We did this several times. And then they did the dot marker activity.
Korean Alphabet Consonant Song to Teach Kids Korean
A fun and engaging way to teach kids Korean or any other subject is through songs! I found this catchy song from Hello Carrie, and we’ve been watching the video each day after the dot marker worksheets.
Fun and Engaging Korean Activities for Young Children
The whole Korean lesson took about 10 minutes, and my boys seemed to have been enjoying them and ask about what letters they’re going to learn the next day.
My goal is to create fun and engaging (and short!) Korean activities for my boys so that they will continue to want to learn Korean as they learn more.
I plan on continuing to create Korean activities for my boys. If you try any of these activities, I would love to hear from you, and I hope you’ll join me on this journey!
FREE Korean Alphabet Dot Marker Worksheets
Fill out the form below and these free Korean alphabet consonant dot marker worksheets will be sent to your email!
I saw this cute activity to share with pre-schoolers and signed up for the free consonant worksheets, input my information and have not received the email. Is this still available?
Hi Kealohi,
Thanks for reaching out 🙂 It might have ended up in your spam folder. But I’ll also email it to you again!