In this post: A review of One Third Stories: a story-based language learning subscription box for kids.
Are you a native English speaker looking to learn a second language with your kids?
One Third Stories is a language learning subscription box service that teaches your child a foreign language through fun stories and activity packs!
It is available in four languages: French, Spanish, Italian and German and is the perfect resource for beginners.
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I have completed all 12 boxes in the Spanish One Third Stories series with my kids over the past year and I’m delighted to be sharing a complete review on the blog.
But we dive in, I wanted to share a fun fact~ the UK version of Shark Tank is ‘Dragon’s Den’ and the founders of One Third Stories, Alex Somervell and business partner Jonny Pryn, featured on the show!
I remember watching their episode years ago and thinking how awesome and unique their language learning method was! Little did I know at the time, that years later I would become a mama myself and use their program with my own kids~ and blog about it!
Alex was actually raised bilingual and spent much of his childhood in Paraguay. He is a polyglot, meaning he speaks multiple languages!
Whereas Jonny grew up in England, and his exposure to languages came in the form of boring and tedious grammar classes in school. As a consequence he hated languages.
So together, they created this fantastic product to help families across the globe raise little linguists in a fun and engaging way. I am tickled pink to be sharing a review of the One Third Stories materials with you today. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
How One Third Stories Works
With many Spanish subscription boxes available on the market today, you may be wondering what makes One Third Stories so unique?
As an avid reader and bibliophile, I was of course attracted immediately to the ‘storybox’ concept.
I truly believe reading aloud is one of the most powerful ways to teach your child languages. Not only do stories allow your child to engage in the world of imagination, but they also provide plenty of opportunities for vocabulary acquisition.
The Clockwork Methodology
Yet, more intriguing for me was their Clockwork methodology for reading stories. It’s absolutely genius and so effective for complete beginners.
Essentially, the stories begin in English, to capture the child’s attention and engagement. Then slowly, target language words are sprinkled in and increase to phrases and even full sentences as the story progresses. The child can understand the words because they are introduced with context and illustrations to support their learning.
Having completed the full Spanish series with my kids, I can confirm that this is an extremely effective strategy. My kids love the stories and have enjoyed the activity pairings, which we called ‘booktivities’.
No doubt, this clockwork methodology may cause some controversy amongst language purists, as it entails ‘code mixing’~ the mixing of two languages within sentences.
Here’s a short snippet and example of code-mixing from the storybook Inigo Idaho Insect Inspector:
“Hola, abejas. Have you seen mi araña?”
“No! Now buzz off. We’re atareadas!”
Un-bee-lievable.
Now, in this example, the child has already been exposed to the word ‘araña’ at the beginning of the story because the inspector was busy looking for his ‘lost spider’. They have had the context for this word and are already familiar with its meaning.
They have also seen ‘atareadas’ in the context of the bees being very busy previously in the text. So the repetition in different sentences helps consolidate their learning.
Later in the story there is an increase in the amount of Spanish words being used to a few full sentences:
I have found chinches y escarabajos peloteros.
He encontrado mariquitas y grillos y gusanos y libélulas.
I have seen a significant impact in both my children’s vocabulary acquisition and enjoyment in reading in the target language using this clockwork methodology. It really works!
Related Post: How to read in Spanish: 5 tips for beginners
What’s Included in Each Storybox
Foundational Language Skills
Each box focuses on the four foundational skills for language learning:
Listening: You receive a link to an audiobook narrated by a native speaker.
Reading: You receive a beautifully illustrated paperback storybook. (Approx 30 pages per story + a glossary).
Speaking: An activity book is included with fun games that get your child speaking the language.
Writing: The activity book also includes several fun writing based activities such as fill in the blanks, crafts, games, coloring and drawing.
Vocabulary Topics
The first box “How the Dinosaur got his Shoes” introduces greetings, counting to ten and colors.
As the boxes progress, the child will be introduced to a wide range of useful vocabulary including: foods, hobbies, adjectives, animals, body parts, clothing, transport, places around town, family members, weather, seasons, planets and so many more topics!
Audio Guides
Although I am fluent in Spanish, I am not a native speaker. That is why I was so happy to receive a link in each book to the audiobook. I really value hearing the native speaker pronunciation and the character voices are just so fun. This bonus feature really helped bring the stories to life for my kids (and for me!).
Activity Packs
The activity packs include a range of fun and hands-on activities. From speaking games and wordsearches to coloring pages, drawings and fill in the blanks, each activity helps to consolidate the target vocabulary learnt in the story. There are also flashcards provided in many of the boxes, which can be used in a variety of ways to practice the vocabulary.
Shop One Third Stories + Discount Code
Overall, this subscription box stands out as an excellent resource for beginners and non-native speaking families like mine.
Are you ready to try your first storybox? I have partnered with One Third Stories to provide you with a discount on your first box!
Shop One Third Stories here
Plus, get $15 OFF your First Box with Code MAMALLAMA
FREE international shipping!
Related Posts:
Best Spanish Subscription Boxes for Kids
How to Raise a Bilingual Child
How to Teach your Kids Spanish
Founder of the Llamitas Spanish® Curriculum and former Spanish teacher. Corrie holds two Master Degrees in Spanish and Education. She lives in San Diego, California with her husband and two bilingual children.