Korean Kids Song Sunday: Pororo Theme song (Season 1 &2)

I don't think that Pororo the Little Penguin needs an introduction.  But, just in case...Pororo is one of the most popular children's cartoon in Asia.  Pororo began as a Korean creation but has expanded and is translated in multiple languages and is shown in over 80 countries.   Kids love Pororo!!!
Any Korean grocery store here in the states is going to carry Pororo merchandise for kids and any Korean video store will likely carry pirated versions of the DVD series (with or without subtitles).  

Pororos theme song was the first song in a CD block of 100 Korean kids songs that I borrowed.  Pororo is crazy popular.  I wonder if there was a loveability contest between Pororo and Elmo, who would win?

Lyrics in Korean
야! 뽀로로다
노는 게 제일 좋아.
친구들 모여라!
언제나 즐거워
개구쟁이 뽀로로

눈 덮인 숲 속 마을.
꼬마 펭귄 나가신다
언제나 즐거워.
오늘은 또 무슨 일이 생길까?

뽀로로를 불러봐요. 
뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로
뽀롱뽀롱 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀롱 뽀로로

노는 게 제일 좋아.
친구들 모여라
언제나 즐거워
뽀롱뽀롱 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로

Transliteration
yah! Pororo-da!
noh-neun geh jeh-eel joh-ah
chin-goo-deul moh-yuh-rah!
un-jeh-nah jeul-guh-wuh
geh-goo-jeng-ee Pororo!


noon dup-eun soop sohk-mah-eul
ggoh-mah peng-guin na-gah-shin-dah
un-jeh-nah jeul-guh-wuh
oh-neul-eun ddoh moo-seun eel-ee seng-gil-ka?

Po Ro Ro bool-uh bah-yoh
Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Po Ro Ro

noh-neun geh jeh-eel joh-ah

chin-goo-deul moh-yuh-rah!

un-jeh-nah jeul-guh-wuh

Porong Porong Porong Porong Po Ro Ro!

Lyrics in English:
Hey! It's Pororo
I love to play all day
Come join me all my friends
Always happy,
as can be Little Penguin, Pororo

Snow covered wonderland
Make way for Pororo
Always happy, as can be
Everyday a new adventure waits for me

Call for him my Little Penguin
Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Porong Po Ro Ro

I love to play all day
Come join me all my friends
Always happy, as can be
Porong, Porong, Porong, Porong, Po Ro Ro

Recent Article: Pants-wearing sponge blamed for kids' poor attention spans

 I've mentioned a few times here my concern about relying too heavily on language TV or DVD programs as a source of language immersion for kids . This msn article highlights a research study that shows that the rapid pace of cartoons like SpongeBob are too much for pre-schoolers whether it be for educational (language) purpose or simply for enjoyment.

Kids who watched a cartoon of SpongeBob had worse attention spans than those who watched a PBS cartoon for the same amount of time, a new study shows.

 These are the few take-home tidbits I got from the article:

• Fast paced cartoons like SpongeBob affected preschoolers (4yr olds) attention span while realistic educational programs like PBS' cartoons did not. 
• American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under 2 should not watch TV.  Older kids should be limited to 1-2 hours per day of educational programs.
• The quality of the programs that children watch are just as important as the quantity
• Age-appropriate! SpongeBob is actually targeted toward kids 6+. So, 4 yr old kids should be watching things like Dora the Explorer.  But parents complained it was too slow paced (for who!?).

I'm not sure how ubiquitous (am I using the word correctly?) SpongeBob is, but Pororo is EVERYWHERE. I met a young Korean mother of a 4 year old boy, who answered in English at his mother's questions.  Although it has been difficult to get him practice and learn Korean, she said that due to Pororo, he is willing to learn more Korean.  Can't get away from that penguin.

  So I wonder how 4 year olds attention span would do on this research study after watching Pororo?  Perhaps its not as fast paced.  Well, it does say about Pororo:

A Korean educational TV program suitable for children aged 4 to 7, Pororo the Little Penguin helps kids to learn the values and knowledge shared by children and parents alike - not only in Korea but all over the world! Dialogue is minimal and visuals play an important role in educating children, through amusing short stories in 3D CGI animation

 So Pororo is for 4 to 7 year old, but if dialogue is limited then would it provide the Korean language exposure I want? But you can't forget that Pororo = fun; Pororo = Korean; therefore, Korean = fun.  Would that logic motivate a 4-year olds Korean-American to find the Korean language appealing?

Korean roadtrip

I'm super proud of my husband. We took a 6hr road trip today and I am feeling very accomplished in making progress in Korean language learning.

We got through 2 lessons of Pimsleur Korean (30 minutes each). Yay! Husband can say "I can speak a little Korean" in Korean!!!



We also learned the words to the 3 bears song. It's true!



Lastly, we got through some vocabulary and reading hangul with this Pororo iPhone app. Cute app but Pororos pronunciation is kinda penguinny whacked.