Rocket German - Updated Level 1 Interactive Audio Course

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

August 19, 2020

Hi Everyone!

We've updated the Interactive Audio Course for Rocket German Level 1! You'll see a "NEW" label next to these lessons. You'll notice that the conversations are similar, but this update provides you with clearer explanations, a whole host of new audio examples, and a new voices - all of which will help you with your German learning.

Since these changes have involved adding a number of new lessons to the course, your progress will unfortunately start from scratch for these. However, we are sure that you will find them a massive improvement on the old lessons!

Enjoy the new content - and please let us know what you think!

Best wishes,

The Rocket Languages Team

megn8r

August 19, 2020

Good Morning -

I just noticed this update. Since I've completed Modules 1-6 already (and taken the module exams), will I need to redo the conversations all over again in order to finish with Level 1? It shows new conversation lessons through all of the modules.

Thanks for the clarification,

Megan

AdrianC15

August 19, 2020

Is there a way to go back to the old audio lessons? These are very frustrating in comparison. There is really no need to break down a simple sentence into each word and explain each word, it makes everything super slow and breaks the learning flow. Also, you have like 3 seconds of silence to repeat a single word, it gets very frustrating. Furthermore, the lessons used to be ~25 minutes in length, delivering only concise, necessary information. Now that you are literally clarifying every single word and analyzing its root and case, the lessons go up to 45 minutes (!).

Any way I can go back to the old audio lessons?

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

August 20, 2020

Hallo megn8r und AdrianC15!

Thank you for getting in touch with us!

megn8r, since the lessons have new content (which includes new sentences, new quizzes, updated conversations, etc.), this does indeed unfortunately mean that your progress has been reset for all of these lessons. However, if you would like to skip doing the new lessons and have your progress restored, please contact our Customer Support at support@rocketlanguages.com or use the Contact Us form on our website.

AdrianC15, I'm very sorry to hear that you're not happy with the new Interactive Audio Course! We are confident that the new lessons are a great improvement over the older ones. We've carefully timed the silence to allow beginners enough time to practice repeating the German out loud and have included thorough explanations of the language so that you have the tools to build your own German sentences. As for the length, the new lessons range from just over 16 minutes to just under 38 minutes.

However, if you feel that the old lessons were better for your own learning, please do contact Customer Support (support@rocketlanguages.com) and ask to be provided with a link to the old Rocket German Level 1 audio files.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Liss

RobertD50

August 20, 2020

I'd like to say that I think the new lessons are a nice improvement; they addressed a number of my criticisms of the prior lessons. You introduce the concept of gender earlier, so people don't learn a lot of nouns before they realize they need to learn the gender. You also explain why endings change in your examples (due to gender, case, etc.) when those differences haven't been introduced yet. I appreciate having explanations for colloquialisms & shortened forms of phrases that at first glance seem to disobey a rule or don't make literal sense, instead of just having to accept them & move on. It's a nice touch that you explain potential points of confusion, like Kirche vs Kirsche.

It is a positive to have a narrator who is not one of the characters in the dialog; it makes focusing on the content vs the explanation clearer. And adding the written captions under lessons' introductory dialogs is VERY welcome. I also appreciate the extremely deliberate & clear pronunciations. And while I like the new presenters, I do miss the ever-chipper & humorous Nik character.

One mistake I've seen so far: In the Lesson 1.2 flashcards & Know It, "I want to have a (cup of) tea" is translated as "Was willst du trinken?" It's a question & answer instead of a translation.

Cheers.

Lamar

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

August 20, 2020

Hallo RobertD50!

I'm so glad to hear that you're liking most of the changes that we've made to the course! Thank you very much for passing on your feedback.

And thank you as well for pointing out that error in Lesson 1.2 - we will get that fixed straight away.

Viel Spaß!

Liss

RobertD50

August 20, 2020

You're very welcome. (Of course, now I'm worried that Nik didn't survive her trip to the hospital...)

Gio482

August 22, 2020

Hallo Zusammen!
I do like the improvement that has been done with RocketGerman. The new breakdown of sentences and rules makes it much easier to understand. Also they added more words to each lesson, and I love getting more bang for my buck!
As RobertD50 said "It is a positive to have a narrator who is not one of the characters in the dialog; it makes focusing on the content vs the explanation clearer. And adding the written captions under lessons' introductory dialog is VERY welcome. I also appreciate the extremely deliberate & clear pronunciations."
I do agree with him 1000%! Although I did notice some inconsistency thought. For example, In lesson 1.1 previous translation for Ich heiße mean "I am called" , but now it is changed to"My name is", which was Mein name ist. Although the terms can be used interchangeably due to the similar meaning, it did cause me some confusion.
Overall I happy with my RocketGerman purchase and would recommend it to anybody I know who wishes to learn. It would also be nice if they included pictured flash cards; I think it would help with memorizing words if you have an image of what they are.

Sehr guet arbeit. Auf wiedersehen!

Gio

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

August 26, 2020

Hallo RobertD50 und Gio482!

Not to worry, RobertD50: Nik survived! :)

Thank you for your feedback as well, Gio482! I'm so glad to hear that you're liking the changes! Indeed, since the translations in the old lessons were sometimes a bit too literal or a bit too loose, some of the translations will have been updated. However, we have also added many more literal translations in the relatively new "literal" field (which you can find by mousing over or tapping the "Lit." icon), which should hopefully help to make the core meaning of the German clearer!

Grüße,

Liss

Linie

August 26, 2020

Hello Everyone,

Was surprised to hear the whole new voices when practicing again with level 1. At the beginning, the new voices and the whole conversation sounds a bit like robot; but as the lessons keep going, I find that the new updated Rocket German is quite good as it is explaining more about the gender, infinitive, grammar etc. It gives a heads-up before starting the Language Culture session.
Hope the updated level 2 will be as good as the updated level 1 since I found that a lot of words usage/meaning is not well explained during the conversation in level 2. Btw, miss Nik and Paul voice, though :)

Thank you Rocket German for the effort of improving the lessons for us! The best online course I've ever purchased.

Dean V

August 26, 2020

While I am sure the new lessons are better, it gets annoying to have my progress reset every few months because you guys try to improve everything. I appreciate the effort, but if we have completed the lessons that are changed beforehand, please do not reset our progress on those lessons.

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

September 1, 2020

Hallo Linie und Dean V!

I'm so glad to hear that you're finding the content of the new lessons more helpful, Linie! Thank you very much for your feedback on the new lessons, and for letting us know your impressions of Level 2 as well - I will pass that on to our German team for them to keep in mind as they undertake that review!

Thank you for your feedback as well, Dean V, and our apologies that the progress reset is causing frustration! This is done automatically because the content is brand new (e.g new sentences, new quizzes, new Play It!, etc.) and these new aspects don't have any progress attached to them. However, if you would prefer not to try out the new content and would simply like to have your progress restored, you can contact our Customer Support team at support@rocketlanguages.com or via the Contact Us form on our website.

Grüße,

Liss

Troy747

November 3, 2020

I did all three levels of German a year or so ago. I've just gone back to the beginning and I'm delighted with the changes to Level 1. The content is better, more informative, and the new voices are so much easier to listen to (the previous ones were just obnoxious in their attempts to be cute or funny). I hope Levels 2 and 3 will be revised too. Troy

Annie-W

November 12, 2020

I don't really like the new presenter's voice tone for language teaching. Rachel has a lovely soothing voice, but that's not what I'm looking for. I much prefer Nik and Paul with their fun, enthusiasm and energy. They made me feel the same way listening to their lessons. For me, they really complimented each other's teaching style and I miss them. I've requested access to their audio files via customer support.

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

November 16, 2020

Hallo Troy747 und Annie-W!

Thank you both very much for your feedback!

That's so good to hear that you're enjoying the changes to Level 1, Troy747! The German team is working on reviewing the higher levels, but we don't have a release date for those yet.

Annie-W, I'm sorry that you aren't finding Rachel's voice a good fit and are missing the old presenters! Customer Support is exactly the right place to ask for the old audio files - the Support team will be able to arrange that for you.

Grüße,

Liss

HugoM5

January 12, 2021

I think that the changes are so good. Now the course is more interesting.

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

January 13, 2021

Hallo HugoM5!

Thank you very much for your feedback. We're so glad to hear that you're enjoying the changes!

Viel Spaß!

Liss

Linie

March 31, 2021

Hello,

Thanks for the Rocket German Level 1 update. Is there any time range on when will the second level of Rocket German be updated? Hope the second level will be as detailed as the first level.

Viele Dank!

-Linie

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

April 1, 2021

Hallo Linie!

We're glad that you're enjoying the update to Rocket German Level 1!

At the moment, the Rocket German Level 2 Language & Culture lessons are slated to have their review completed in 2021/2022, so it's a little ways off yet. However, our German team plans for the new Level 2 content to indeed be just as detailed and clear as the new content in Level 1!

Grüße,

Liss

RobertD50

April 1, 2021

The sooner the better! The further I get into Level 2, the more obvious the drop in quality & organization compared to Level 1. While I'm still working through it, I anticipate the best course of action will be to start Level 2 over again after the uplift arrives. (And then of course I'll have the same concern about Level 3.)

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

April 9, 2021

Hallo RobertD50!

Thank you for your feedback! Since the Level 2 review will result in a lot of new content becoming available, it will definitely be worth revisiting once it's rolled out and ready! We'll put out a post when that happens to let everyone know straight away.

Grüße,

Liss

Linie

October 8, 2021

Hallo,

Is there any time range on when the new content of Level two Rocket German be released? Can't wait to learn it :)

-Linie

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

October 8, 2021

Hallo Linie,

Thanks for getting in touch! The review of the Rocket German Level 2 Language & Culture lessons is still slated for completion in 2021/2022. Our German team is working hard on them, and we hope to have them ready as soon as we can!

Viele Grüße,

Liss

RobertD50

March 1, 2022

Any news on when we will see the German Level 2 update? I've finished the current Level 2, but I would prefer to go through the improved version before moving to Level 3. The recent announcement about the impending interface changes didn't mention the German Level 2 uplift. Danke.

Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor

March 3, 2022

Hallo RobertD50!

Unfortunately, we've run into some resourcing issues with our German updates and this has caused some delays. We are still hoping to have the Level 2 Language & Culture lessons updated by the end of the year, though!

Viele Grüße

Liss

Rocket German - Updated Level 1 Interactive Audio Course

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