Rocket Languages Reviews

Starting to learn Spanish at 67 years old is probably not the best time but so far so good.
I can't fault the teaching method or the software and I even enjoy even the frustrating time when my mind goes blank.

It's a fine course. It's easy and gets you working on it each day. Nevertheless, the whole program is not that advanced. I was looking for something that can take me from B1 to C or so.

I tired the free trial for Rocket Languages as I was a bit skeptical. I really enjoyed the free trial. Its a great way to immerse yourself into the French language. I went ahead and bought all three levels! So far I am still in the early stages of level one but everything is going smoothly. I can't wait to use what I have learnt when I go to France to visit my boyfriend.

I like everything so far on the trial membership, except for the "rating" task that forces you to rate each word of the flashcards. It's tedious and who knows how to categorize each word anyways? The modules are fun!

I've just started the first few lessons and I really like the conversational approach to learning and the additional form of testing that follows. Unlike other learning platforms that I've tried that encourage you to speak, Rocket's approach of using voice recognition makes it into a kind of game where you feel that speaking correctly matters. I also love how you can stand in for one of the speakers in a pseudo-realtime conversation. It feels that one step closer to learning with another person. On the negative side, I find the male teacher to be a bit too 'smily', like he is talking to children. This isn't especially off-putting when we get to the actual conversations and explanations but it doesn't really help with learning. I guess they wanted the male and female teachers to have some kind of rapport with the students but it feels forced.

I like the lessons so far, but I have a couple nits to pick. 1) The recording volume is very low even when set to max. I have to get very close to my mic, and then I get big spikes. 2) When Mauricio pronounces phrases, he emphasizes one syllable the first time and a different syllable the next time. How am I supposed to know which way is right?

I love the dialogues. They help you develop your listening and speaking skills rocket fast. Unlike the Pilmsleur approach that I have also used, Rocket languages also has the reinforcement activities where you get additional listening, speaking and writing practice so you learn to spell correctly and pay attention to accent marks and special characters.
I am giving it a 4 out of 5 because in my opinion the price is pretty steep (I can get the Pilmsleur CDs for Portuguese level 1 for $34 in ebay) and I feel for that price it should also include some grammar videos with activities and reading comprehension to make it more well rounded.

I have only just started the course which is fine so far. My criticism would be that it does not reflect the way people talk in France. No one has ever said salut to me and the standard greeting is bonjour

Let me again reiterate something that I drew your attention in the past:
You lost in some categories (despite high quality of the program on the technical and didactic fronts) at least on star in the survey because of the manner this survey is delivered in the middle of a lesson in a most frustrating and hampering manner which I feel aggressive, if not outright harassing! If you need feedback, do offer your surveys AFTER the end of a lesson (at the moment of a switch from one lesson to another) to avoid an absolutely PREDICTABLE distraction in the middle of the learning process and high concentration - I don't think this is something that a reasonable person cannot predict.

- dialogue very clear
- good variety of topics in lessons
- maybe a touch over priced
- lesson review sections do not always save for me at the first time of trying
- cultural elements very interesting

I Appreciate the desire to keep updating and adding to the service