Rocket Languages 2017 Edition launch

Hi all

The team here at Rocket have been putting in some long hours to get the 2017 Edition of Rocket Languages across the line and I am excited to announce that it is now live! For current members the 2017 Edition is free as part of our "Free updates for life" policy. So, why not login and check it out today?

The major changes in the 2017 Edition are: 1. The Android app This has been fully updated with a new UX/UI interface that will make it much easier to use and get around!

We rebuilt the app from the ground up and have included full Rocket Record voice recognition technology.

You can download the latest app here:

It would be fantastic if you could leave a review of the app. The more people we get using it the more we can put into making it work even better!

2. The iOS app (Now live!) This app has also been fully redone. Note that we are still waiting on Apple's approval process to get the iOS app live. Their process is more stringent than Android. There has already been quite a bit of back and forth about it, so we are hoping that approval will be given within the next few days.

Of course, if you already have the app then you will receive a notification, or it will auto-update after the new version has been approved. You should be able to check the status here. UPDATE! The latest version of the iOS app is now live!
We have also included full Rocket Record voice recognition on the iOS app! 3. The Desktop version The latest desktop version also has a new UX/UI, and a whole bunch of behind the scenes improvements to how the courses function. Note that we still recommend Chrome for full voice recognition. We are waiting on the likes of Firefox and Edge browsers to fully develop the speech to text functionality required for voice recognition.

As well as that, we have added the ability for members to add customized FlashCard sets, and made the Leaderboard real-time. The Apps: Stage 2 The next project we have is to bring more of the desktop functionality into the apps. This would include features like:

• The FlashCards
• The Leaderboard/Points system
• The Forum
• and My Vocab

New courses We are also launching a few new more advanced courses. A couple of these have been live for a few people but now they are available for purchase:

• The Rocket Spanish Travelogue series
• The Rocket French Travelogue series
• The Rocket Russian Travelogue series

We are also working away on the following courses!

• Rocket Chinese Level 3 (To be launched Q1 2017)
• The Rocket Italian Travelogue series (To be launched Q1 2017)
• A full upgrade of Rocket Sign Language (To be live Q4 2016)

Busy times at Rocket Languages! The Rocket Languages 2017 Edition launch sale To celebrate the release of the 2017 Edition we are holding a limited time sale. So, if you are thinking of getting a higher level or trying out a brand new language then wait until noon Monday October 24th PST (Los Angeles time) when all will be revealed!

If you are signed up to one of our email lists then you will receive notification via email, otherwise just come back to the site on Monday afternoon.

All the best with your language learning!

Jason Oxenham
CEO
Rocket Languages

Thanks so much Jason, I've already enjoyed the new feature that allows me to switch between my Spanish, German, and Chinese courses from within the programs rather than having to log out and back in again. 

I am having trouble with the Navigation window overlapping with primary working window, as well as not being able to rate flashcards.   I left two more detailed descriptions in the General Feedback section.

Thanks again and congratulations.

David

Hi David - Thanks for the comment. There appears to be a slight issue with a certain screen resolution that is causing the responsiveness to act this way. We are looking into it!

Thank you so much for everything Jason!  I feel like I am able to take my studies to another level!  This is exactly what I wanted when I started learning Japanese many years ago, but technology at the time just couldn't do what I specifically needed.  So glad to be present today though!

Quick update: We are having a few points/Leaderboard issues now that it has gone fully live. Please bear with us as we try and sort it out!

Hi Jason, 

I work on a laptop, and am experiencing the same problems David mentioned, along with the points number being incorrect.
The Navigation window overlapping with primary working window is really distracting, I hope it gets sorted out soon.  
Otherwise, I like the new Navigation window, it is much more streamlined and doesn't jump around like the old one did.  Now it just has to stay up top where it belongs and stop stalking my work, haha.

Good luck on getting these tweaks fixed, and thanks for all you do.

Kelly

Hi Kelly - Yes, we are working on the remaining responsiveness issues. What is happening (or not happening) with your points?

Hi Jason - 
Sorry, my mistake.  The points are fine, the streak days are wrong.  It says 22 days, and today I would be at 64 days.
 

Hi Jason and all,
this is great! I'm using the web UI and two things that have bugged me in the old version are now gone: the elements in the Conversation Transcript/Extra Vocabulary no longer change their height while recording (caused me to mis-click with the mouse all the time), and they are much more responsive now and are no longer grayed-out for seconds after the recording. Great work, thanks a lot!
Best,
Leif

Thanks for the feedback Leif! We appreciate the comment!

Rocket Language Team - Is there any chance to add offline functionality to the iOS app? As a pilot, this would be a huge game changer while commuting and allow me to access the lessons without the trouble of downloading audio files to listen to individually. Thanks so much, Hunter.

Hi Hunter - That has been something we have discussed. The issue is around the size of the install file, it is going to be enormous by standard sizes. It is in the Stage 2 plan to look at workarounds, perhaps giving the user the ability to select offline use, like Spotify does.

Thanks for the quick response. It is good to hear that it is in the works. Yes, a Spotify type workaround to download the file to the mobile device versus a large install file would be excellent.

Hi, Hunter,  
Great news, all my original issues have been fixed super quickly. 

A new issue has come up, but perhaps is due to me doing something wrong.

With the new Custom Flashcards I can  now successfully create a test file, import  4 words from the MyVocab list, which correctly come up into the edit screen, however, a cannot be saved error comes up when I try to save the set. 

This may be a feature rather than a bug, because I notice one of the words is incorrect.  The previous error I reported elsewhere which was getting an error message on the import command has been fixed and now works.  Wow your technical team is working really fast.

Thanks a lot.

Hi David - The issue with the custom FlashCards is being worked on. It's one of those weird ones whereby it worked fine in beta but on the live site...

For me, I can save the custom flashcards just fine but when I try to use them and use hotkeys for scoring them, the next card does not come up.

Drew

Hi Jason,  Late last night I was successful in importing one word from MyVocab in the Chinese course, saving it and using it.  I made it public and wrote a note asking someone else to see if they could load it and use it as a test to generate data for your development team.

I believe my previous report of a failure trying to import 4 cards may have been in my German account, and may have failed because of a misspelling in one of the cards.

All the other, issues, I reported previously have already been fixed, including the overlapping Navigation Box.

This new version is exciting.

Thanks.

Hi all - Thanks for the feedback! All responsiveness issues should be fixed. In saying that please let us know if the members area renders/functions poorly on a particular device/browser.

The only remaining issues that we know of are that some peoples streaks may not be quite right, and the custom FlashCard sets have a couple of bugs.

Thanks Jason, this is my impression as well.  I've been able to use all the functions in three languages with the exceptions of the Custom Flashcards.  My streak records are also wrong/incomplete.
'
Keep up the great work and please send my congrats to your Rocket Team.

The 2017 mobile app seems to have a glitch for Rocket Italian.  In Lesson 3.10's "Hear it Say it" testing, the recorded tutor repeats the same vocabulary word over and over and over again.. I have uninstalled and re-installed the mobile app on my android, it still is not fixed.  My desktop seems to be having the same issues as well, so I'm unable to practice the testing lessons...

Hi Jason, 

I've been doing tests of the Custom Flashcards over in the Chinese Feedback and Comments section and only just moments ago realized you probably don't have access to the Chinese Section.  Perhaps, many of your Rocket Team don't either which might explain why some of the questions there do not seem to get as much attention.

I've replicated one of the threads for your benefit here:


Test1 of Custom Chinese Flashcards

Hi Jason, Here's a copy of an error report I left yesterday in the German feedback section that I realize now you probably didn't see because you don't have a German account.

Error in importing My Vocab list to Custom Flashcards

Hi chiagozie22 - This issue should be resolved for desktop and app users alike. Please let me know if that is not the case!

Hi David - There are a few issues with the custom FlashCard sets. We hope to resolve those over the next 48 hours.

Note that the My Vocab import bug should be fixed. Also, we will add an import csv/notepad function to speed up the creation process.

Hi Jason - Yes, the My Vocab import feature works fine now, and has the additional advantage of being so fast and efficient in displaying that this is actually the first time I've seen all  65 pages of my vocabulary list.  Previously, access to it was so slow I always gave up and found producing handwritten index card flashcards was faster.

The Custom Flashcard system also is working well enough that I decided to produce some real files to replace the test ones.  In the process I learned something your software engineer should find to be a useful tool.

While creating "Basic Hanzi Strokes" I noticed the column switching issue between the Hanzi and English boxes I reported previously.  But because I was having to generate both the Hanzi and the Pinyin tone marks in separate parallel windows I decide to correct the switching after getting all the entry done.  I was losing a lot of attempts because of "window jump."  The entries are not saved until selecting the Save button. So a jump loses the entries.

Then I noticed that after clicking on the entry complete tool (Green Pencil) to enter the current line, the incorrectly switched  Hanzi - English entries in the previous line instantly corrected themselves.

So  the system works if one is patient.

I would encourage fellow users to Save often.  If one leaves the window to retrieve a Hanzi entry from a parallel window before saving you will lose the whole file.

It would be helpful to have both you Pinyin and Hanzi software keyboard options in these entry boxes as there currently seems to be no endogenous way to enter these required elements.

Cheers

 

 

Oh, one more thing.  I started a file called "The Most Common Mandarin Radicles Part 1: 1-25"  but gave up after 11 when the saved file did not show up in my Index.  Maybe it's a delay?

Also, sometimes the Private - Public toggle works, sometimes it does not.

If there are any other Chinese students out there who can test the Radicle file and let me know if it is working for you I would appreciate it.

 

I opened a couple of your files this morning and they work fine. Thanks.

Hi all - A few people mentioned an issue with their streaks being (accidentally!) broken. That should be all sorted now. Please let me know if that isn't the case.

Also, an update on the iOS app. It looks like this will take a few days longer than anticipated as there has been more backwards and forwards with Apple. And every time we send it back we have to wait a few days for them to review it!

Jason,

Just realised that none of the points totals are correct any more since you re-rated flashcard points at 1 instead of 2. Now all the historical leaderboard points have been docked by 50% for flashcard points so the totals don't match the current points. 

Really, I don't think it's a great idea to devalue points like that anyway. Or at least get some other opinions before making the change. That one looks a bit of a rush job. 

Cheers, Drew

Hi Drew - We are looking into this!

THUMBS DOWN.  Rocket French worked just fine last week.  Now with the new upgrade, I have almost nothing.  In the Interactive Audio Lessons, there's only the audio -- no transcript!  The tests don't work at all, except for the quiz.  In the Language and Culture and Survival Kit lessons there's nothing, except for audio if it's in the lesson.  The flash cards flip and can be rated but there's no audio.  Why?

Hi Diana - I am guessing that this is to do with IE 11. We are working on getting that working properly. In the meantime I would recommend Chrome, or any other browser in fact.

Thank you.  With Chrome it works.  I just hope now I haven't wrecked my ability to use Explorer, as I don't like Chrome.  After the IE 11 is worked on, I do hope RF works in Explorer.

Hi Drew, I agree with you about not devaluing past points, or taking away peoples earned badges,  My point was that some sections, like Write It, Play It, and Hanzi Write It 2 should have more points.

Also, I disagree with the premise that Flashcard have been the exclusive cause for "Point Bandit" abuse (a sort of funny concept.)

Point Fiends can, and I am sure have, used the Know It section for the same purpose. Which actually does not bother me,  Anyone that desperate for points, that they would spend hundreds of hours tweeking buttons, probably should  be able to get them, along with some coupons for psychotherapy.   I do not believe point inflation is a big enough problem to justify the demotivating consesequences of past point demotion and taking away people's hard earned badges.

Adding a time counter would make a lot of sense and enable to calculate a whole lot of educationally useful new variables.

Not about points, but thank you for the sale today!  I was able to pick up the level 2 and level 3 French courses for less than the usual price of one course.  Even more motivation to "keep on keeping on" and continuing my studies.
 

Hi Drew/David - I think the best thing to do right now is revert it back to the way it was and once the dust settles we can re-evaluate the system as a whole.

Hi Joe - No problem!

Hi Diana - It should now be rendering as well as it can in Internet Explorer!

Hi Jason - yes I have found the VR on the desktop version far more reliable.
I have mainly been using the app on an Android tablet and really think its a great improvement. However I do think you need playback as I find I do like to check the VR on playback or to get to grips what something has gone wrong when VR suggests a deficient pronunciation.

Thanks for all your good work - I've brought the Travelogue - as I think its good to have a second level to head to.

I wonder if it might be possible to have a level to get to grips for reading easy novels working up to something more advanced.

Bye R.

Hi Jason,

I use android system (version: 5.1.1.) on my mobile phone and made the full  update, but the green icon of the voice recognition can't be seen, it doesn't work. What can I do?

Bye, A.

Thank you Jason; RF again works well with Internet Explorer.  Now there just needs to be a nice link added between the regular lessons and the new Traevlogue.  I wrote about that in the Forum under French.

There is a link at the very top of the page . If you click on 'all courses' that will take you to the courses you've purchased 

Why isn't Travelogue integrated in the language course like the three levels? It is only another level of the same language.
If you work a day only on the one, your streak on the other will be lost. 

Hi all - A quick update about the iOS app. It is now live in the app store!

Hi Diana/Alan/Hundetier - We are looking at the options for integrating the Travelogues with the existing Rocket courses!

Hi Andrea - Please email customer support about this. Please add in your device details as well.

That would be great - thank you very much!

Hi there. Why does the system no longer tell you when you've moved from one level to the next, i.e. from Blue Star Master * to Blue Star Master ** ?
I kind of liked that.

I was wondering the same thing as jppiov.  I enjoyed getting startled by the "New Badge" jumping out at me.  It was fun.  Bring it back, maybe?