Match Up

Sixteen tiles: eight English phrases and the eight Korean ones that mean the same thing. Clear the board in as few moves as you can. A perfect run is eight.

What Match Up trains

Match Up is a memory game with a purpose: sixteen face-down tiles hide eight English phrases and the eight Korean phrases that mean the same thing. Turn over two tiles; if they match, they stay open and you hear the Korean spoken. It trains you to link a whole Korean phrase to its meaning in one step, which is how fluent speakers store everyday expressions.

How to play

• Flip two tiles

  One English and one Korean tile that mean the same thing make a pair.
• Pairs stay open and play their audio

  Wrong pairs turn back over, so try to remember where each tile was.
• Moves and time are recorded

  Eight moves is a perfect game: every flip a match. Your best result is saved in this browser.

Why phrases, not single words

Beginners often learn Korean one word at a time and then struggle to put sentences together. Phrases solve that problem from the other end. 아이고 (aigo) covers “oh dear”, “ugh” and the sigh you make when you sit down after a long day — no single English word does all of that. 화이팅 (hwaiting) is borrowed from English “fighting” but means “you can do it”. Learning them as whole units means you can use them correctly long before you could explain them.

Tips for a better score

Read the Korean, do not just match shapes. It is possible to win by remembering where tiles are without reading them. You will score well and learn nothing. Say each Korean tile out loud as you flip it.

Use the English tiles as anchors. English is faster to read, so open English tiles early, keep them in mind, and look for the Korean that fits.

Play it before a timed game. Because there is no clock, Match Up is the best warm-up for the Phrase Quiz and Whack the Word, which use the same phrase list.

How it works

Everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. Your best score is remembered on this device only. The Korean audio is the same audio set used on the phrase pages.