Points and Exhaustion

I see many people who consistently do 3,000 to 5,000 points a day and wonder how they do it. Then I've recently seen people doing 15,000 or more a day. That has to be something like 2,000 per hour. How on earth do you do it? What are your strategies?

I cannot fathom doing even 3,000 a day. I set my goal at 300 points and I'm happy if I get about 400-500 a day, and occasionally I've gotten as high as 1200 or so but this isn't a full time job for me, I can't spend all day doing this. 

What I actually care more about is my 176 day streak. For me, showing up and progressing is what is important. 

But, does anyone else ever get exhausted? At times, this is difficult and at those times, I just power through some flashcards and call it a day. I'm in a bit of a slump right now and I'm showing up but just keeping my hand in it as I try to get through a bit of a rough patch. Again, keep showing up is what I'm trying to do.

I'm not looking for a motivational speech, but does anyone else run into that, where doing 50 flashcards feels like hard work and you're ready to turn off the computer afterwards? And if you're doing 5,000 points day in and day out, are you doing this for 6-8 hours a day every day effortlessly?

Hi Daryl - I wouldn't get too bogged down with what other people are doing :). We do have a project lined up to revisit how the whole Leaderboard system works. 

It may be helpful to hide the points/leaderboard widget in the top nav for a while. You can do this in your Profile.

Hi Daryl

I experence the same; some days I can get 600+ and others, mid-100s.  Some days I have the energy to do a lot, and on others, the minimum.  Steady progress and actually learning what I'm studying is my goal, not scoring points on a leaderboard.

Chris

yeah, I'm not worried about my standing on the leaderboard. I'm fine with being 752nd place. I'm here to learn, not impress and not to win an imaginary race. I was just wondering how some people do it, if they have some strategy to maintain a rigorous schedule and if they or others ever face the ups and downs of learning a language. I love this program, but it isn't always easy.

Understood.  I've studied languages over a number of decades and my common denominator is never to lose my streak.  Some days, that equates to the minimum and other days, six times the amount.  It depends on mental energy and available time, but never to skip a day.  It works for me.

Hi All

I agree with Chris, but enjoy doing the language and do what I feel comfortable with. In German a lot more than my Italian these days. When I first started Rocket got very hung up on points and just got frustrated. My daily goal of 400 just never felt enough and I signed up for Rocket at the beginning of COvid, so lots of time on my hands. I have to confess I did want my black badge though. So was a bit obsessive, but there is not point cheating if anyone does. Doesn't achieve anything. So keep going on what you want to do.

Sebongela

yeah, thanks CMcHan for completely misunderstanding my post. I didn't come here to get to the top of the leader board. I'm not hung up on it and it doesn't bum me out.

Just a quick note with (hopefully) some helpful information on points, and how to earn them.

Firstly, I wanted to let you know that it is possible to remove your points widget from the top of your members area, if you are finding it demotivating. You will find that option in your Profile settings:

https://app.rocketlanguages.com/members/profile

Here is a list of the possible ways to earn points:

• Playing audio using Rocket Record = 1 point per phrase
• Recording yourself using Rocket Record = 3 points per phrase
• Playing the IAC audio: 5 points per 2 minutes
• Playing a Sign Language video from a lesson = 2 points per video
• Completing a Rocket Reinforcement activity = 25 points per activity
• Completing a Quiz = 20 points per Quiz
• Completing Play it! = 25 points per time
• Completing a lesson = 100 points per lesson
• Rating a FlashCard = 1 point per FlashCard
• Attempting the Benchmark test: 50 points per attempt / day
• Answering a question or commenting in the Forum = 100 points per answer/comment
• Asking a question in the Forum = 100 points per question
• Adding a phrase to Saved Vocab = 2 points per phrase
• Sending us a members review of your course = 500 points per review
  
  I'm sure, if someone wanted to, they could earn more points than they are entitled to. We have not made addressing this a priority, because as I'm sure we all agree, those who cheat are only cheating themselves. We try to provide great courses for serious language learners, and while I'm sure it can be frustrating seeing scores that don't seem genuine, chasing after those that are not serious would not be time well spent for us. 

I hope that helps, and that you are all enjoying your language learning. Please let us know if you have any further feedback!

Alme/AI22 (learned something new today!)

Where do you see Level 1 and Level 2 leaderboards? When I look I see only one leaderboard with Level annotation.

I also only see two points on leaderboard. Daily and Total. Next to that is my current streak. Below that are my Spanish and All Languages ranks. Below that I have a list of learners and I can change the list between Spanish or all languages, as well as various time lengths (24 hours to all time). Below that is my graph where the points match what is at the top of the leaderboard page.  I spelled it out as it seems like you are seeing something different.

Ok, I worked in both accounts today, just finished up.

The daily points in the top left of the leadership screen matched the number in the lower right for what I was calling the leadership points just above the daily graph.

So that was squared up for today in both accounts.

However, a little more weirdness…

I haven't felt so good today so I wanted to do the bare minimum and get it over with, so I was watching the points displaying in the top of “know it.”

I noticed that the points displayed were something like 3 less than the clicks I made for the first lesson I worked in.

To be clear, I can have several lessons in a row which only have 2 to ten phrases I haven't clicked over to easy.

Going through 4 lessons twice and hitting the survival kit I saw that in some lessons the points matched the clicks. In others there were as many as 6 or 8 less points registering than clicks.

This isn't a big deal for me in the grand scheme of using the program, but it's odd.

***********

I originally posted this just before midnight, mon / tues.

For curiosity I logged out, cleared the cookies and logged back in about 12:25.

The daily points in the upper left were zero for today, tuesday.

But the points in the lower right just above the daily points graph is showing my points from yesterday.

Again, It's no big deal to me, but it's odd. Why doesn't everything reset at midnight?

If it's supposed to be cumulative for the duration of a streak, why is it not showing all my cumulative points for my 30+ day run?

Alme, that makes total sense!

Hi Alme,

Thanks so much for your posts. Unfortunately we are having trouble figuring out what's happening with your points, so we were hoping that you could contact our Customer Support team on support@rocketlanguages.com, please, so that we can work with you to get to the bottom of things. We can post an update on the forum at a later date, so that anyone following can stay in the loop.

We look foward to hearing from you!

Thank you so much, Margaret.

I will get that together and send it out within a few days.

I'll do it on my laptop, I don't do email or much critical else on android, otherwise I could get to it quicker.

It may come from a different email address than what you have on file if that's important for reciept

Ok great, that's much appreciated! When you send your message through, it would be really helpful if you could include the email addresses we already have on file for you, please. Thanks so much, Al22; we look forward to hearing from you!

This seems to be an old conversation, but I wanted to chip in since it's very interesting. I'm a fully bilingual person, having learned my second language as an adult, and now at middle age I'm trying to learn a third and fourth languages (I'm not convinced that I'll become fluent, but I love experimenting regardless). These are my takeaways:

• - As many people mentioned, is more important to have consistency than reaching a set number of points.
• - The points system is meant as a gamification of the learning effort, and is good when it encourages to keep learning. But it could also do the opposite, in which case turning it off is a wise decision.
• - I think the most points I have accumulated in a day is around 1000, when I had stamina for two or three hours of studying. I do tend to play the recordings of specific words or phrases many times, since my pronunciation is not great, so I need to develop "muscle memory".
• - In my case, I started studying these languages because of a very specific goal: I was travelling to those countries in a few months. After my trip, I'm planning to keep my motivation up by reading interesting books and watching movies in those languages.
• - When I feel exhausted from studying with Rocket (that is, watching my laptop screen), I do take breaks of one or two days, and I try to look at books or videos in those languages, just to keep my brain resting actively.  

Hello Allan,

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to follow up on the issues you reported regarding the leaderboard and the recordings in the "Know It" section. 

Could you please confirm if everything is working fine now? If you require any further assistance or encounter any other issues, please let me know, and I'll be more than happy to help you.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Hi Allan,

Thank you for sharing your concerns and feedback. We appreciate your engagement and want to address any issues you're facing. It's important to us to provide a positive learning experience and address any challenges users encounter.

I'm glad to hear that the sound muting issue in Level 2 has been resolved for you. If you have any further technical issues or questions, please don't hesitate to contact.

Thank you for your valuable feedback, Allan.

Best regards,
Enxhi

• I am not sure it works like this… (see below) I have occasionally achieved 12k points in a day, by working my nuts off. Pluggin away intil I literally ‘know it’. No cheating, not that I can see how that is even possible. Then a couple of days more tranquillo for the information to macerate, then back to it. I do have plenty of time on my hands, and this course is my priority at the moment.
  
  Playing audio using Rocket Record = 1 point per phrase - yes
• Recording yourself using Rocket Record = 3 points per phrase  - yes
• Playing the IAC audio: 5 points per 2 minutes  - yes
• Playing a Sign Language video from a lesson = 2 points per video . not on my course
• Completing a Rocket Reinforcement activity = 25 points per activity - not sure what this is
• Completing a Quiz = 20 points per Quiz - no points  ever for  a quiz
• Completing Play it! = 25 points per time  - yes
• Completing a lesson = 100 points per lesson - not sure what completing a lesson actually means
• Rating a FlashCard = 1 point per FlashCard. . no points ever for a flash card 
• Attempting the Benchmark test: 50 points per attempt / day - probably 
• Answering a question or commenting in the Forum = 100 points per answer/comment - I am about to find out - yes
• Asking a question in the Forum = 100 points per question - can't say that I noticed.
• Adding a phrase to Saved Vocab = 2 points per phrase - not something that I do
• Sending us a members review of your course = 500 points per review - in due course :-)
  
   

The quiz only gives you 20 points only the first time. After that (even if you reset it), no points.

Completing a lesson means getting green in all exercises in a lesson (eg. 1.1 or 1.2 or whatever).

I get 1 point for each flashcard.

I never noticed as I no longer save words, but I checked and you do get 2 points.

Hi Scott,

good to see you again. The quiz seems to have an intermitant fault, as I noticed in passing that it did not seem to do anything, then I was sure that it gave me points on one occasion.  (I should say that I am not bothered to quite honest), so a couple of days ago I paid close attention and on the first time, all questions answered correctly I am absolutely certain that I got no points. Sin duda. Same goes with flash cards, I will scrutinise them next tme. I'll never get points for completeing a lesson, as I don't do the writing part, I am dyslexic and I find it dispiriting even trying. I follow the learning advice from rocket, which is to go with what works. I am an audio based learner.

hasta la vsita tourista :-)

Interesting - I don't take quizes often enough to really test the theory. I did the quiz on the lesson I am currently on (I usually do it last, but all in the name of “science”) and it did give me 20 points.

I will say flash cards always seem to work for me. One exception is if you are flipping quickly. Allan mentioned if you fly through the cards quickly, it stops giving you credit. I checked that out one day and it was true for me as well. But I got 50-75 points before it stopped giving points. When I came back a few minutes later, flashcards were giving me points again. Sorry it doesn't work for you all the time!

I laughed when I read sin duda as I learned that phrase just a few lessons ago.

Thank you for sharing the information, Scott and Petax. 

I apologize for any confusion caused by the discrepancies in point distribution. Rest assured that I will share this information with the internal team responsible for the Rocket Languages program. They will review and assess the point system to ensure that it functions consistently and accurately reflects user progress.

As language learners, it's great that you are actively engaging with different activities and finding methods that work best for you. Audio-based learning can be highly effective, and it's important to adapt the learning approach to suit individual preferences and needs.

If you have any further insights or observations regarding the point system or any other aspects of the Rocket Languages program, please feel free to share. Your feedback helps us make necessary adjustments and enhancements to create a better learning environment for all users.

Thank you for your valuable input, and keep up the great work in your language learning journeys!

Buon proseguimento!