Heritage Journey
7 stages × 5 culture themes. Your child draws their own route through Korean.
Hangul Route
Ages 5–11Heritage familiesK-culture curious
Korean for kids who
don't speak it — yet.
Hoya the tiger guides your child from ㄱ to Chuseok — five-minute quests, English all the way, and 24 Korean culture cards to collect in Stage 1 alone. Played, not taught. Never a frown.
Nothing to download · No ads · Plays offline after your first visit
COPPA-compliant
No third-party tracking. Parent email is the only PII.
No ads, ever
No third-party ads. No data sold. Revenue is in-app only.
Plays offline
After your first visit, the full Stage 1 plays without a connection.
Anti-shame design
Wrong answers use amber. No red. No streak guilt.
How it works
Mini-games
Tap, build, trace, and match — five-minute games that fit a child’s attention span.
Collect culture
Earn 24 Heritage Cards in Stage 1 — from kimchi to Chuseok to the gayageum.
24 Heritage Cards. One Korea, one child at a time.
Every letter your child learns earns a real piece of Korean culture — a ramyeon bowl, a Chuseok moon, a swing from a Dano painting. Stage 1 ships 24 cards: 13 common, 4 uncommon, 5 rare, and 2 legendary.
gang-a-ji
Puppy
One of the first Korean words children learn at home.
na-bi
Butterfly
A tiny flying flower in every Korean kids’ song.
bo-reum-dal
Full Moon
The brightest moon of the year shines on Chuseok.
ra-myeon
Ramyeon
Steaming noodles in a red-hot bowl. Korea’s most-loved snack.
mu-gung-hwa
Rose of Sharon
A pink-and-white flower that blooms all summer.
bap
Bap
"Did you eat bap?" is how grandparents say hello.
sa-gwa
Sagwa
Big, red, and crunchy. Korean apples are extra sweet.
in-hyeong
Doll
From handmade fabric dolls to K-pop figures.
jam-ja-ri
Dragonfly
Speedy, see-through wings on summer ponds.
chaek
Book
Korea loves books so much it has Book Festivals every year.
K-pop
K-pop
Big songs, big dances. How the world hears Korean daily.
tae-geuk-gi
Taegeukgi
A red-and-blue swirl with four black symbols.
paeng-i
Paengi
Wooden tops that kids spin on icy ground in winter.
ho-rang-i
Tiger
Korea’s old tales all start with "Long ago, when tigers smoked tobacco..."
a-ri-rang
Arirang
A song about missing home. UNESCO world heritage.
ya-gu
Yagu
Korea’s loudest sport. Fans bring drums.
eo-muk
Eomuk
A warm winter street snack served with hot broth.
yeo-u
Fox
Clever and a little bit magic in old Korean tales.
o-ri
Ori
Brown ducks waddle around Korean ponds.
yong
Dragon
Korean dragons live in rivers and bring the rain.
u-san
Usan
Korea’s rainy season lasts a month — every kid has one.
yut-no-ri
Yutnori
Four wooden sticks instead of dice. A Seollal favourite.
geu-ne
Geune
Girls in old paintings ride giant swings on Dano festival.
i-bul
Ibul
Korean kids sleep on the floor under bright padded blankets.
Stage 2 (Words) adds 30+ cards. Stage 7 (Self-expression) caps the Heritage Library at 175.
None of them feel like school.
Four families of practice — recognition, production, application, review — wrapped in 90-second loops. Hoya never says “wrong.”
Recognition
Match the sound
Hear a letter. Tap the matching tile. Three rounds, no pressure.
Production
Trace the letter
Follow the stroke order. A finger trail teaches the hand the shape.
Production
Build the letter
Drag two strokes together to form a real Korean syllable.
Recognition
Odd one out
Three letters fit. One doesn’t. Spot it before Hoya laughs.
Application
Culture quiz
A picture, three answers, ten seconds. Learn the world behind the letter.
Recognition
Tap when you hear it
A rabbit hops by. Tap only when you hear /to/. Fast, fun, real.
Review
Card match
Flip two cards. Match Korean to English. A memory game that teaches.
Application
Story sequence
Three panels, one story. Put them in the right order.
Production
Say it back
Hear the letter, say it back. Hoya cheers either way.
Beta — opt inMeet Hoya
A tiger who never says “wrong.”
Hoya is a young tiger and the only voice in the app. Korean folklore opens with “Long ago, when tigers smoked tobacco…” so the tiger is Korea’s grandparent character. Hoya is a young one — so kids meet a peer, not an authority.
- Wrong answer? Hoya says “거의!” (almost) on amber — never red.
- Right answer? One star, one card, one quiet cheer. No coin sounds.
- No streak shame. Skip a day. Hoya is happy to see you when you come back.
For parents
Five minutes a day. Nothing creepy.
Hangul Route is built for tired parents. Hand the phone to your kid for five minutes; come back to one new Korean letter, one heritage card, and a quiet child. Bring it on a long flight — the whole Stage 1 plays offline.
- Local-first by default. All learning data stays on the device until you sign in.
- Parent-gate. Anything that costs money or deletes data is behind a simple multiplication question.
- One subscription, three profiles. Siblings share. No upsell.
Common questions
What makes this different from Duolingo Kids?
Duolingo teaches vocab. We teach a child’s relationship with their heritage — one collectable culture card at a time. And no red feedback, ever.
How old is this for?
Designed for ages 5–11. Stage 1 (Hangul) works for fluent English readers and pre-readers alike — every screen has voice and visuals.
My kid doesn’t speak any Korean. Will it work?
Yes — that is the audience we built for. The UI is English at a 5–7 year old reading level. Korean only appears as the thing being learned.
How long is a session?
One quest takes about 5 minutes. Most kids do 1–3 quests per sitting. You can stop any time — no streak shame.
How much does it cost?
The first 12 cards are free. After that, 12-card packs at $4.99, or lifetime full access at $29. No ads. No subscription required.
Try Hangul Route this week.
Hangul Route runs in your browser — open it, add it to your home screen, and Stage 1 plays offline. Leave your email for launch news and a free family code on launch day.
Play now — freeWorks on iPhone, Android, iPad and Chromebook — any modern browser.