Stars help Korean language learners through app
A Korean language app is gaining popularity through the help of South Korean Hallyu stars like f(x)’s Luna and Cha Eun-woo of Astro

By Kim Ji-soo
The app “Danbi” launched by Kim Hyun-sun, CEO of Do More, has top Korean pop stars and actors helping users to learn Korean, and may well have been something that many could have thought about.
But Kim followed through with the thought. Danbi, which roughly translates into welcoming rain, became available early last month.
“There are others that have put into fonts Korean stars’ writings. But my idea was to personalise it more, by carrying the stars’ penmanship, cursive writing on the app. I believed that because K-pop and K-stars lead the Korean wave, many would-be learners of the Korean language can learn it in a fun way,” said Kim Hyun-sun, 30.
Danbi was launched in early October, to teach basic Korean language through the handwriting of five top stars such as Luna of the girl band f(x), singer Irene of Red Velvet, Cha Eun-woo of Astro and actors Jin Goo and Han Ji-min.
Danbi offers steps on how to write the Korean vowels and consonants, the syllables, writing one to three letters, audio and visual learning and 100 core conversations. The application has since seen 4,718 visitors and 2,238 downloads in the past month, Kim said. The individual star package is priced at US$2.99. It is a modest start, but Kim has earnest hopes for it.