4 year old, Teddy Hobbs, can count to 100 in six languages; becomes UK's youngest Mensa member

Four year old Teddy Hobbs can count to 100 in six non-native languages including Welsh, French, Spanish and German, a feat that seems unachievable for a kid as young as him. The child prodigy has been accepted as the youngest member of Mensa, which accepts those who score 98th percentile or more in an approved intelligence test.

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As a toddler he taught himself to read. "He learned to read at just 26 months old by watching children's television and copying the sounds of letters, " his mom, Beth Hobbs, told BBC.

"He started tracing the letters and so when we sent him back to nursery after Covid lockdown we told them we thought he'd taught himself how to read," she said. "We had a phone call back from the nursery, who'd sent a pre-school teacher to check, who said 'yes he can read!'"

Teddy was conceived via IVF and is the only child of his parents. “Teddy was our first child and as he was conceived via IVF, we have nothing to compare him with," his mother told The Times.


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Teddy can count to 100 in Mandarin, which is considered to be the most difficult language to master.

"He was playing on his tablet, making these sounds that I just didn't recognise, and I asked him what it was, and he said "Mummy, I'm counting in Mandarin," his mother told the media outlet.

Teddy started to take a real interest in books during the lockdown. He has no interest in games and TV, which kids of his age find more engaging than books.

While his talents had surprised his parents, they were confused too. At the age of three years Teddy had to undergo an online assessment for an hour.


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He cleared an IQ test scoring 139 out of 160 on the Stanford Binet test which made his entry in the Mensa. He was in the 99.5th percentile.

It was found that 3 year old Teddy had the letter and word recognition prowess of an eight year old child.

Teddy is expected to start school in September.