The mum on a mission to bring word learning into the 21st century

Andy Martin speaks to Sofia Fenichell about her data-driven research company, Mrs Wordsmith, which examined some 200,000 books to find the best words for kids to learn

Sophia Fenichell created Mrs Wordsmith to help children learn more complex vocabulary (Michael Leckie)

When her more mathematically inclined daughter was studying for her 11-plus, Sofia Fenichell looked around for books or games that would help her extend her vocabulary. “There was nothing,” she says. So she came up with Mrs Wordsmith, a lexicographic company. They started publishing three years ago. This month they are launching a new mobile game called Epic Word Adventure.

“I love words,” says Fenichell when I meet her at her HQ in Shepherd’s Bush. “Words have been a huge part of my life.” She was born in Algeria 51 years ago and educated in America. Her Tunisian father used to wait tables, but asked for newspapers instead of tips, learned English, became a Fulbright scholar and studied engineering in the US. “My parents were so into education. When I didn’t get into Harvard I wanted to run away and hide,” Fenichell admits. She studied at Northwestern University in Chicago instead.

After graduation she went to LA to be a screenwriter. It had to be either Disney or Pixar. “I was a total geek. I thought I had written an adult romance – for Disney!? That was the level of my immaturity.”