Alex Somervell

Alex Somervell makes up one half of the team that founded One Third Stories. Having grown up in Paraguay, he has been bilingual from an early age, with his father speaking to him in Spanish and his mother in English. His childhood experiences ignited a love for languages that he still maintains today, with Italian, Portuguese and Russian becoming part of his repertoire after years of study, travel and teaching. Having moved to the UK at the age of 17 and commencing sixth form study, Alex quickly noticed the limitations within the language teaching system in this country, and started thinking about what needed to be done to tackle this problem in the long term. In conjunction with fellow co-founder Jonny Pryn, Alex and 10 other friends started a Young Enterprise business where they published a children’s adventure story about other languages and cultures. This project sowed the seeds for what later became One Third Stories. Alex brings invaluable linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to the team, with his experience of being bilingual from childhood helping One Third Stories to create books that make readers’ language learning experiences both entertaining and informative. He is passionate about breaking down the fear and stigma attached to language teaching and learning in the UK, and hopes that One Third Stories will help encourage a new generation of children to approach languages with confidence and enthusiasm.