Learning Languages with One Third Stories

*This is a paid post

There really is nothing quite like the joy of learning a new language. I still remember phrases from my teenage German and love hearing my children repeat the French they have been learning at school too.

It’s never too early to learn a new language and thanks to One Third Stories, children as young as four can learn French or Spanish in a really fun, engaging way.

What is One Third Stories?

One Third Stories is an exciting way to introduce kids to a new language, delivered directly to your door every month. It’s an educational subscription service that is packed with stories, activities and flashcards for children aged 4-9.

Each month for a year a gorgeous One Third Stories box will land on your doormat, packed full of new language fun! Every box contains an original story book that begins in English and gradually introduces the new language, an audiobook narrated by a native speaker, an activity book, flash cards and extra additional hands-on activities – as well as a really good quality storage bag to store everything in.

The One Third Stories books

The main part of the One Third Stories subscription is the beautiful storybook that you receive each month. Each book has lovely illustrations throughout, each one by a different author and illustrator, and is a good length for any story time session or a bedtime read.

Each book starts completely in English but, gradually, words from the new language are introduced. I didn’t know how this would work before I started reading the books but it’s done so well, the context and illustrations in the books make the meaning of the new words immediately clear.

As each story progresses new phrases are introduced as well as individual words. By the end of the book the child will be reading whole sentences and pages in a new language – and understanding it too.

In the first book, a dinosaur is trying to find the perfect shoes. The first new word that is introduced is shoes – followed by things like hi, what’s your name, colours and numbers. The stories flow beautifully and teach the new language in a really natural way.

I’ve been working through One Third Stories with my niece, Lottie, and she couldn’t have been more excited to learn Spanish. Even after just reading the How the Dinosaur got his Shoes once she was able to say a few colours, numbers and shoes in Spanish – and really enjoyed it too.

The One Third Stories Audiobook

I did wonder how children would learn pronunciation from a story book but One Third Stories have thought of everything! Each book comes with an audiobook too, so a child can hear the book read by a native speaker of their language.

Before the Story Box arrives you’re sent a link to the audiobook which is a great way for kids and parents to familiarise themselves with the pronunciation of the new language books before the new story book arrives, ready to read it together.

Each book also has the link to the audiobook printed at the start so that children can enjoy listening to the audiobook any time they like as well as reading the book again and again.

Whilst working through One Third Stories with Lottie, we listened to the audiobooks before starting to read the story books. This meant that we already had an idea of the Spanish pronunciation and could really immerse ourselves in the stories. The audiobooks are full of sound effects and we really enjoyed listening to them.

The books we read were really engaging books, well written and with beautiful illustrations. I think I enjoyed the books just as much as Lottie did! But, they would also be great for younger children and for independent reading as children get older.

One Third Stories activities

As well as the story book and audiobook, each Story Box includes an activity book and extra activities that really help children to practice their new words. All the activities complement the story book beautifully, with really clear theming in each One Third Stories delivery.

There are things like colour by numbers – with the numbers written in the new language – or activities where you write key words in the new language, getting childrem to not only listen or read their new words but to practice writing them too.

Each box contains not just activities to colour, write or draw but also creative activities with things to cut out, build and create. So much thought has gone into each One Third Stories box and there is literally hours of entertainment across reading the book, listening to the story and completing all the activities.

Lottie loved drawing animals after learning what they were called in Spanish and colouring in dinosaur shoes – depending on what colour shoes they asked for in Spanish! Every activity is well thought out and both fun and educational, making sure that everything really helps to reinforce the language learning.

One of the best added extras in each Story Box is the sheets of flash cards, giving children an immediate visual prompt of the words they have learned and helping them to practice the words any time they like. Every parent of young children loves flash cards and so I was really pleased to see them in the boxes.

The One Third Stories subscription

The One Third Stories subscription is made up of twelve different Story Boxes which increase in difficulty as you work through them, with one box received each month.

You can either subscribe on a rolling monthly contract which can be cancelled at any time or you can buy 6 or 12 months upfront – making the overall cost cheaper. Plus, if you start One Third Stories and then have to cancel the subscription for any reason, you can start again where you left off at a later date.

Thanks to not just the books in each box but the audiobooks and related activities, children are able to really build their confidence in the four key language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking, and it’s all done in a really natural and engaging way.

Over the course of the year children learn not just the basics of a new language but so much more. I am really impressed by how much vocabulary is covered in each box and the many different ways that children can learn which really helps to reinforce the new words and phrases.

Lottie has really enjoyed starting to learn Spanish – and One Third Stories will give her a head start when she starts to learn the language at school in the coming years. She has really enjoyed the story books and audiobooks but loves the activities, giving her something to do throughout the month where she’s practicing a new language without really thinking about it.

The One Third Stories books are great stories that would be perfect for any story time session – at bedtime or throughout the day. I can imagine families snuggling up to read the books, enjoying the stories but having the added bonus of learning a little French or Spanish at the same time.

We have loved finding out more about One Third Stories and using the Story Boxes with our niece – who was the perfect age for the subscription. She absolutely loved the excitement and challenge of learning something new and I was really impressed by how quickly she’s picked up a few Spanish words and phrases.

Lottie’s mum is an early years teacher and she also commented on how well done One Third Stories is. It’s done in such a way that children don’t realise they’re learning, they pick up the words almost intuitively.

It’s believed that learning a new language at a young age can also improve reasoning, problem solving, and memory which makes complete sense to me and is just one more reason why One Third Stories is a great idea. It’s an educational subscription that will give children the basis of a new language that they can use throughout their life and build on in the future.

One Third Stories aim to make language learning a joyful experience and I think they have succeeded. Their Story Boxes are beautifully put together, with resources that families can continue to use for years to come.

I can see One Third Stories being a great gift for any child, giving them fun activities to do each month along with an audiobook to listen to and a beautiful storybook to read – with the added bonus of learning a new language at the same time.

One Third Stories is so different – and I love it. I have teamed up with One Third Stories to give 25% off any purchases, simply use code REDHEAD25 at checkout.

You can find out more about One Third Stories and subscribe over on their website.