Want to feel like an international family of mystery? Add these Korable blocks to your toy collection. The set of 4 blocks is handmade in Michigan and feature the Korean alphabet. The blocks can be combined to create over 120 single-syllable words including numbers, days of the week, foods, nature words, body parts, and more.
They were originally designed for Korean-American children as a language-learning activity, but they’re flat-out gorgeous. And I think they would make an awesome gift for anyone design-minded. Wouldn’t you want a set on your desk or coffee table? Me too!
P.S. — If you could have your children learn any language, what would it be?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Love these! Thanks for sharing. I would love for my children to learn Korean. I’m adopted from Korea and unfortunately never learned the language. I would really like to now as an adult and of course go to visit.
I’ve studied languages and language learning, and it is fairly unanimously agreed upon by researchers that learning any additional language has numerous cognitive and social benefits for young people both in their childhood and into old age. With that in mind, I won’t be so particular about which languages my children pick up, as long as they are enjoying the process!
(All the same, ‘selfish-me’ says that I’d like my future children to learn Norwegian or Swedish, partly to give me the chance to keep up my own language skills, but more than anything to have the opportunity to delve into the wonderful world of children’s literature that Scandinavia has to offer – the literary world created for young people over the North sea is nothing short of stupendous, and I hope to share that with my little ones!)
I am from Norway, but married to an American, and so we are trying to teach our son Norwegian. Stuff like this makes me wish that Norwegian was a bigger language, because there is so little available for English speakers trying to learn Norwegian. It keeps us creative, though, and means that our suitcases are always stuffed with books, movies and toys to promote language learning whenever we go to Norway to visit.
i was just thinking about this yesterday! my son wants to learn japanese, so i’m looking around for options for him now. i’d love for him to learn french as well, since that’s what i studied (and france is where I want to go!)
My husband’s first language is Spanish, although he doesn’t feel comfortable speaking anymore. I’d love my kids to know multiple languages–Spanish would be top of the list, followed by Chinese, because something like 1/3 of the world’s population speaks it, I think both would come in handy.
Those are beautiful! Art+toy+learning. What could be better?
I’ve always wanted my family to learn Italian, the language of my mom’s family (I grew up around fluent Italian speakers and picked up a bit here and there). Or French. But I recognize they aren’t the most “useful” languages where I live. That would be Spanish. (Or the Mexican version of Spanish.) But they’re similar enough.
I just found out our public library is a member of Mango. That means you can take free foreign language classes online. Mango for adults, Little Pim for the kids. I just started the French one a couple weeks ago in anticipation of a visit to Paris in the (hopefully not so distant) future – Bonjour! Comment allez vou? : ) If you’re in the states, you can go here: http://www.mangolanguages.com/libraries/ to find if your library participates.
Thanks so much for this post! My mother is Korean, and while she grew up in Korea she never taught me to speak the Korean language. Now that I’m raising my own children, I know the importance of learning a second (or third, or fourth) language. I went to the website and purchased these blocks. This will be the perfect introduction to the Korean language for both me and my children!
Just ordered – wish you got a kickback! :) Love the concept, design, and fun quotient – perfect all around! Thank you for another great idea.
This is so cool! My husband is Korean and we would love for our kids to learn Korean someday… this looks like such a fun way to teach them! (Bonus points for the fact that they are handmade in the US!)
I. Love. These. I just placed my order! My son is a Korean adoptee, and we all use several Korean words/phrases here as part of our everyday life. I’d love if that was his “second” language of choice. (Is it considered “second” if it’s the first one he knew?!) Regardless, these are a win for our family for sure. They appeal to my design sensibility, Spencer’s joy of anything block-like, and we all get to learn along the way. Thanks for spotlighting these!
I served an LDS mission to Korea and having been home for a few years the language is starting to slip, not to mention my Korean spelling has never been stellar. These are so neat! I just made my purchase.
My mom is Korean, and when I get around to having kids, I’d definitely gift these for them. They are very beautiful, and the memory game option they offer also seems super fun! I’d want to get those for myself ; )
I don’t have any kids at present, but I would love for my children to learn German, because of the time I’ve spent in Austria (plus, my parents used to live in Germany, and my dad spoke the language to us when we were kids). At the same time, I would love for them to learn Arabic (my college language) or possibly even Danish, in honor of my stepfather’s heritage.