Learn everyday Korean with Momo

Korean in Momo

What is special about Korean in Momo

Korean is written in Hangul, so every card gives you two ways in: the word as it is written, and a roman hint for how to say it. A few Korean habits are built into the cards, too.

• Each card has three lines: the word in Hangul, a roman pronunciation hint, and the word in your own language (English by default).
• All 227 words and phrases have a roman hint, so you have a guide to saying each one even if you do not read Hangul. The hints follow Revised Romanization and show the sound changes as the word is spoken, split by syllable, such as 감사합니다 (gam-sa-ham-ni-da) for "Thank you" and 목말라요 (mong-mal-la-yo) for "Thirsty". Korean has no stressed syllable, so the hints are all lower case.
• Numbers 1 to 20 are the native Korean counting numbers, the ones used for counting things: 하나 (ha-na), 둘 (dul), 셋 (set), and so on up to 스물 (seu-mul) for twenty.
• In My Family, Brother and Sister are 남동생 (nam-dong-saeng) and 여동생 (yeo-dong-saeng), the words for a younger brother and a younger sister. The words for an older brother or sister depend on whether the speaker is a boy or a girl, so the deck uses the younger ones, which anyone can say.
• Feelings are said the way Koreans say them about themselves: 기뻐요 (gi-ppeo-yo) means "I'm happy" and 배고파요 (bae-go-pa-yo) means "I'm hungry". Hot! and Cold! are 더워요! (deo-wo-yo!) and 추워요! (chu-wo-yo!). For these cards, Find it! asks 누가 ("who is...?"), as in 누가 기뻐? ("Who is happy?"), instead of "where is...?".
• For picture words, Find it! and I spy ask the Korean way: the word first, then 어디 있어? ("where is it?"). For Grandma, Grandpa and the teacher it uses the respectful 어디 계셔?, as Korean children are taught. A small English line under it gives the meaning, except in Little Explorer. In the phrase decks, Find it! simply says the phrase.
• Most phrases use polite everyday Korean, with the -요 ending, such as 안녕하세요! (an-nyeong-ha-se-yo!) for "Hello" and 미안해요 (mi-an-hae-yo) for "Sorry". The Find it! questions, Momo's praise and the let's-play greeting are casual, the way you would speak to a child.
• "Please" is 주세요 (ju-se-yo), which means "please give me". You will hear it at the end of phrases such as 메뉴판 주세요 (me-nyu-pan ju-se-yo) for "The menu, please".