Rocket Japanese - Updated Level 1 Language & Culture Lessons

Rocket-Languages

October 2, 2020

Hi Everyone!

If you're wondering why the Language & Culture lessons have changed recently, it's because we've updated the content for all of Level 1 to match JLPT N5 standards. This means completely NEW lessons with heaps of new audio examples, much more comprehensive explanations, and brand-new grammar topics that align with N5.

Since these changes have involved adding all-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!

We also have brand-new Writing and Survival Kit lessons covering N5 kanji and vocabulary, so watch this space...

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

Best wishes,

The Rocket Languages Team

Abgueguen

October 3, 2020

Thanks for the information. Does it mean that Level 2 will match JLPT N4?

IsabelleAb

October 3, 2020

Is there a bug as my 2020 edition is edited with new lessons and 2021 edition remains unchanged?!!
Thanks

Edit 15' later: bug has been fixed apparently.

jason-oxenham-founder

October 4, 2020

Hi Abgueguen - Yes, the next Rocket Japanese project is getting Level 2 to match JLPT N4, and then Level 3 to match JLPT N3!

Hi Isabelle - That was probably just a caching issue!

IsabelleAb

October 5, 2020

Hi Jason,

I'm still having trouble with the 2020 edition. 2121 is great but I still enjoy to go through the write it section of the 2020 edition. The 2020 edition I get is the 2021 edition (text updated) in the 2020 format but without any write it! Kana & Kanji! section. Not sure I am clear.

Cache has been emptied and I tried log in/out, no result.
Any idea?

Cheers

Isabelle

Rocket-Languages

October 6, 2020

Hi Isabelle,

The Write It tests have now been replaced with the new Sort It tests. You can find them below the Reinforcement activities under “Extra Testing.”

There are two kinds of Sort It tests - one for Kana and one for Kanji. The new test doesn't require you to type each character; instead you can drag and drop the words into the right sentence order.

We've found this new “drag and drop” style of testing much more useful and we hope you do too!

ClaudiaR27

October 9, 2020

I love that you are matching the lessons with the JLPT. That is extremely useful.

Also, I absolutely love the Sort It activities! Good fun and great practice.

I've been working with the new Language and Culture section. I really am enjoying the work you've done with it. Thanks, Rocket!

Rocket-Languages

October 12, 2020

Hi ClaudiaR-sc5G,

It's great to hear that you are enjoying the new lessons! In the next few weeks we'll be releasing new Writing and Survival Kit lessons as well, which we hope you will all find just as useful.

GrahamC17

October 21, 2020

Module 2.7 !! 3 lessons for the price of one quite a challenge did you really have to cram so much into one lesson ?

EarleyGrave

October 21, 2020

I just hope that the changes don't lessen the effectiveness of learning the language for real-life situations. I think we all know that tests don't prove how competent you are at the subject… only how competent you are at studying for the tests! In other words, please don't change the courses too much to where they become geared toward JLPT test-taking instead of general all-around Japanese language competency (which is the reason I purchased them).

Other than that one concern, I am really enjoying Rocket Japanese so far!

Keep up the great work. Cheers!

Rocket-Languages

October 23, 2020

Hi GrahamC17 and EarleyGrave,

We're sorry to hear that you are finding lesson 2.7 too heavy. We have tried to introduce the heavy grammatical concepts in a digestible way, by splitting them up across the lessons and keeping things simple.

Our aligning Level 1 of Rocket Japanese to N5 provides those learners who are working towards JLPT with a more complete resource that they can use in their studies. However, it doesn't change things too much for those learners who are not studying for qualifications: N5 covers the basic vocabulary and grammar concepts that are essential for all beginning learners of the language, whether they are taking the qualification or not. So for these learners, aligning our Level 1 with N5 simply means that you have a more concrete view of what the course will cover.

Rest assured that in following N5, we haven't compromised on the simplicity of our explanations or our relaxed teaching style, so the lessons should still be just as effective (if not more) at using the language in real-life situations. We're confident that these updates are much more useful for all our learners, serious or casual!

EarleyGrave

October 23, 2020

That's great to hear!

Avalos316

December 18, 2020

Hello,

I really enjoy the new level one upgrade. It provides better grammar explanations. What is the expected timeframe for the level 2 upgrade?

jason-oxenham-founder

December 18, 2020

Hi Avalos - At this stage we are looking at Level 2 (equivalent to JLPT N4 standard) to be released at the end of February 2021. There is a lot of work going into it as there will be all new Language & Culture lessons as well as new Writing lessons. Exciting times!

Abgueguen

December 19, 2020

“Bravi”, for all these new updates Jason. I enjoy you stick to JLPT. This allow me to have a better idea of the different levels.

Rocket-Languages

February 4, 2021

Hi Everyone,

A quick update from the Japanese team! The new L&C lessons for Level 2 will be going live next week, along with new Writing and Survival Kit lessons.

During the development process we decided it would be best to spread the JLPT level N4 grammar topics over Levels 2 AND 3, as we found it much too overwhelming to pack everything N4 into Level 2 alone. This should give you a manageable amount of grammar and phrases per lesson.

We hope you are as excited as we are for these new lessons!

JohnH197

February 15, 2021

I'm mildly curious. Initially the plan was to have the 3 level course be representative of JLPT levels 5, 4, and 3 respectively. Per the recent update on N4 grammar, is N3 equivalency also being pushed back or abandoned? I'm going through Level 1 right now so would be a long way off one way or the other, just curious as to how things are shaking up.

Rocket-Languages

February 18, 2021

Hi JohnH197,

Great question! For now, we have planned for only three levels of Rocket Japanese (covering N5 and N4). Once this project is complete, we will reassess how N3 will fit into any potential future updates, if at all.

One of our considerations is that N5 is pretty much equivalent to one year's worth of college papers. Completing N4 would equate to about two years worth of college-level papers, which is pretty advanced for the casual learner!

If you have any thoughts about this, do share them with us here so we can take them into consideration once Level 3 is complete.

ClaudiaR27

March 13, 2021

Having used the new Japanese lessons now for a while, I have to say that I really appreciate all the hard work Rocket has put into this. I loved Rocket before, but now I absolutely LOVE it! The lessons have more in them and make me want to take the JLPT at some future time. The new lessons help make the JLPT practice tests make more sense. Thank you for all the time and effort the Rocket team has put into making our learning more efficient.

Rocket Japanese - Updated Level 1 Language & Culture Lessons

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