Rocket Languages Reviews

I was impulsive when I bought Rocket Chinese but I definitely do not regret it because my Mandarin has improved so much in these few months where I can strike up some everyday conversations with my family. But I must disclose that though I have improved a lot these few months, it is not solely due to this program. I can speak Cantonese fluently so I can easily understand the Chinese grammar as I have been exposed to it and I can get immediate feedback from my mom whom speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin. I like how I can teach myself at my own pace without needing to travel to a class to learn. I like the overall format of listening and the ability to speak and have it rated based on how well I do. There are some technical issues that can be fixed but the experience is certainly very enjoyable and it is very fun! The only downside is there is no one that can immediately fix your pronunciation because as mentioned, the rated recordings of our voice does have faults as it may not pick it up when you pronounce a word correctly or incorrectly. This program does help tremendously in terms of improving my vocabulary and help to build my own sentences. This program really got the ball rolling for me and hopefully in the near future I can converse fully in Mandarin.

I enjoy the desktop interaction. The self pace and modulars are about the right size for learning. I'm 2 modules in. Some of the user interface is a little clunky. The phone app is very clunky. Neither of them bookmark progress within the audio file. No points appear to recorded while using the mobile app.

I am probably an low intermediate and have completed the second level of Spanish and started the third but found it quite a bit harder without a lot of explanations for the grammar or expressions used.

I stopped working on it for now, and have started the Spanish Travelogue instead. . Again it is harder than I hoped with very rapid Spanish and verb tenses I have not yet learned. I would have liked a little more explanations - For example, I appreciated getting a quick response to my question as to why the verb haber was not conjugated in a sentence.

" 'Haber' is not conjugated as it is acting as a modal auxiliary; and when it is followed by a past participle (olvidado) it forms the compound infinitives in the conjugation. It's a compound tense, just like in English. "

But it is still way past my current understanding. I will carry on as I am finding it interesting but I am not sure I am quite ready for this.

I like the audio and the repetition. I want to be able to hear and understand Spanish, not just read it. That is true of most people that learn a second language. Rocket Spanish puts more emphasis on listening and speaking than Rosetta Stone. The points system is also great because it encourages you to do more each day to earn more points.

Rocket Japanese is a pretty good introduction to Japanese. It's definitely far better than Rosetta Stone and a few other programs I had some experience with (but fortunately never actually wasted money on), but despite how they boast about teaching grammar, it does a woefully inadequate job of teaching even the most basic grammar, and there are some strange choices for vocabulary to teach: for instance, there is an entire survival kit that is more than 80% words that I will never use because I don't drink alcohol or eat pork or shrimp. That being said, when used alongside other resources, it can be a fantastic introduction to Japanese. I especially recommend Tangorin.com (a dictionary) as a vocab supplement and Tae Kim's "Guide to Japanese" for grammar.

I believe that the purpose to Rocket Japanese is to teach you enough of a language to be able to have some level of basic interaction with natives if you go to Japan. To actually be able to learn the language to any real degree of fluency, you'll need a lot more. Nihongonomori.com is a good place to go after completing Rocket Japanese if you want to keep going in your Japanese studies.

Definitely helpful to hear native Koreans speaking and the forms of testing made sure that i remember what i learned in the lesson. I would recommend this site to anyone who wants to practice their pronunciation. The site is very organized and easy to navigate. The tools are very useful. All in all, this is a good site.

I am taking the Italian course and it's been great so far. The recorded dialogues are clear and engaging and increase difficulty at an appropriate rate. I am actually surprised at how motivating the point system is -- I find myself staying longer to complete course work and rack up points. The exercises can get repetitious, but that comes with the territory in a language course and is really jus what one should be doing. I have purchased three levels of instruction and am looking forward to completing all of the levels before I go live abroad for a year.

I am studying in India so I started learning Hindi to be able to communicate with the Indians. Earlier I was just talking with friends and learning bit by bit without a proper order. Rocket Hindi provides almost everything you need to know about Hindi in an orderly manner starting from the basics and going on to advanced grammar. You get a lot of lessons for a very low price.

After only three weeks studying with Rocket Languages I had my first trip to Spain. I was amazed just how much I had picked up in that time, certainly in the amount that I could read and words I could pick out of conversations I heard from people around me or from watching the TV.

There was definitely a pronunciation problem which I think is mostly me and some coming from the fact that the locals (in Granada) pronounced some words differently from the audio in the lessons. However, starting a conversation with a local in their own tongue always goes a long way rather than blurting out in English. Now I can't wait to learn some more and my next trip back to Spain.

On the plus side, it's the only course that focuses on talking, which makes it great. I like the exercises where it records your voice so that you can quickly compare your prononciation with the native one.