Top 3 Korean-Inclusive YouTube Channels for Bilingual Families
Min Jung KwonTeaching and maintaining Korean while living abroad is no easy feat. For bilingual or multilingual households where Korean is used alongside other languages, fun and sustainable language exposure is more important than anything else.
Today, I’m excited to share a few Korean-inclusive YouTube channels that you can enjoy at home with your children! These channels are not only educational but also rich in cultural content, helping to boost your child’s language development while fostering a deeper connection to Korea.
How to Make the Most of YouTube Resources
1. Link Screen Time to Real-Life Activities: After watching a video, continue the conversation with a related game. For example, if you watched a song about colors, play a scavenger hunt around the house to find objects of those colors.
2. Embrace Code-Switching: Show your child that it’s perfectly okay to mix languages naturally. This "code-switching" is actually a vital process in developing bilingual proficiency.
3. Discuss Culture and Identity: Use videos about holidays (like Chuseok), food, or traditions to share your own family experiences. You could try making a dish seen in a video or doing a simple craft, like making a traditional Gat (Korean hat).
4. Repetition and Predictability: Watching the same video multiple times or following a series in order helps children predict words and reinforces language acquisition through repetition.
1. Woori Show – A Bilingual Educational Program
Target Audience: Toddlers to Elementary students, and the whole family
About: Woori Show is an educational series created by a U.S.-based non-profit. It is the first online and TV series designed for the entire family to learn Korean language and culture together. Inspired by Sesame Street, it features short, easy-to-follow episodes.
Content: It introduces Korean vocabulary and conversation through songs, stories, cooking, and history. Basic words like colors, numbers, and family members are taught through catchy tunes. It also features interviews with Korean-American role models to help children embrace their identity positively.
💡 Quick Tip! Watch one episode per week and try using the featured words in your daily routine. If the episode was about colors, play a "Color Match" game in both Korean and English while pointing at household items.
2. Globalingo: Learn with Ms. Joy
Target Audience: Toddlers, preschoolers, and beginners in English/Korean
About: This channel is run by Ms. Joy, a bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). Her content is specifically tailored for younger audiences and those just starting their language journey.
Content: Topics include "Baby's First Words," "Seasons Songs," and "Chuseok Stories." As a speech therapist, Ms. Joy provides excellent language stimulation with clear pronunciation, intonation, and visual aids. The channel also introduces Spanish and Chinese, making it a great resource for multilingual exposure.
💡 Quick Tip! Extend the learning from the video to picture books. If the topic was "Colors and Numbers," look for those same colors or count objects while out on a walk to naturally reinforce the vocabulary.
3. Habbi Habbi – Reading, Listening, and Speaking
Target Audience: Preschoolers and up
About: Habbi Habbi is a brand known for bilingual books in five languages, including Korean and English. Their YouTube channel features "audiobook-style" videos where the books are read aloud.
Content: With titles like "Book of Emotions" and "Book of Family," the videos show the text in both languages. This is an excellent resource for connecting listening and speaking with early reading and writing skills.
💡 Quick Tip! After listening to the audio, help your child find words they recognize or encourage them to shadow-read (repeat after the speaker). If your child is still struggling with Korean, read the English sentence first, then the Korean, so they can compare the two.
Today, I wanted to share some lighthearted resources that the whole family can enjoy together. While high-quality multilingual content can be hard to find, these three channels are true gems.
For children to naturally acquire a language, they first need to respect and love the culture. I hope these videos provide joyful experiences for your little ones while broadening their understanding of their identity. I’ll be back soon with more helpful insights!
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