The Rocket Languages Blog

I was ready to conquer Spain.   I had nearly a decade of Spanish lessons under my belt. I’d brushed up on slang in both Castillian Spanish and Catalan. And I’d dog-eared my copy of Folger’s so many times the pages were falling out.   I stepped off ...

In college, I was an Arabic major. I was also, hands down, the worst one in my Arabic class. My first semester, I struggled even though I studied the same way my classmates did. I slogged through Arabic news broadcasts. I toiled over worksheets. I made ...

You’ve always wanted to learn French. You dream of strolling through Paris at midnight, you’ve watched La Vie en Rose twelve times, and you can tell a 2003 Cabernet Franc from a 2004 Cabernet Franc just by smell. So you decide to learn. You enrol...

Bonjour tout le monde, We are excited to announce a reasonably substantial new release/upgrade! So, what are the main changes? 1. Play it! Our conversational trainer, Play it!, has been upgraded and improved. You will see that it is now positioned t...

I love writing in new languages. Whether it’s a text message or an essay, I love putting words to paper, and I pride myself on my ability to communicate almost like a native speaker… until I open my mouth. To me, the most terrifying part of learning a l...

“English doesn’t just borrow words from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, beats them unconscious and goes through their pockets for loose vocabulary.” —James Nicoll, writer. Word Etymology: The study of the history of wo...

In the village of Ayapa, Mexico, the once-vibrant language Ayapa Zoque is about to die. Only two speakers remain—elderly men named Manuel and Isidro—and they refuse to speak to each other. For years, linguistic anthropologists have been trying to get t...

My best friend speaks six languages. Yes, six. She has rented an apartment in St. Petersburg, Russia; set up shop in Frankfurt, Germany; fallen in love in Nice, France; and spent years speaking Creole with her relatives in New Orleans, Louisiana. To to...

Last November, I got trapped in Senegal. After spending a few months traveling through East and West Africa, I was eager to get home, cook Thanksgiving dinner and finally sleep without a mosquito net. But when I arrived to my flight, the attendant tore...

The modern world is more globalized than ever. You can eat breakfast while Skyping a CEO in Hong Kong, email English marketing executives over lunch, and conference call an entrepreneur in Qatar before dinner. Given our globalized reality, you’ve proba...

If you slip into my study, you’ll crash into a mountain of Spanish textbooks. You’ll have to step over Advanced Spanish Step-by-Step and Complete Spanish just to reach my desk, where it will take you more than an hour to sift through the half-scribble...

Riddle me this. One person has studied French for two years. One person has studied French for ten days. Who’s the better French-speaker? The answer? It’s impossible to tell. Maybe the person who studied French for two years only shows up for clas...

This is part 1 of a series on common language learning myths. Congratulations! You know 103 languages. Or, at least, you basically do. With the magic of Google Translate, you can communicate flawlessly and fluently in everything from Afrikaans t...

Pop on a pair of headphones before bed and learn Italian in your dreams. Play Vietnamese radio while you cook and absorb vocabulary while chopping onions. Turn on an Arabic TV show without subtitles and let the colloquialisms wash over you. In no time, y...

Hi all I wanted to point out a few changes that we have made to the members area interface on desktop computers and laptops, just so no-one gets confused! These changes are part of our roll-out for the 2018 Edition. Over the next few months we will ...

When we think of Romance languages, an image of Don Juan or romantic, wine-drinking lovers may come to mind. While meeting your better half and learning a romance language don’t always come hand-in-hand (actually, learning a romance language is easier!),...

Cynthia and Richard Murphy were your average Americans: Cynthia worked at a bank and Richard was a stay-at-home dad helping to raise their young daughters. They had been living in the suburban New Jersey neighborhood for years. Their children went to loca...

Bonjour tout le monde We have just released a semi-major update that includes some new features and some upgrades to existing features. These changes/updates are of course free to all members :) FlashCards: Adding images Members now have the abilit...

You've started learning a foreign language. You memorize new vocabulary words, use flashcards, study new grammar topics, and then comes the moment of truth: you meet a native speaker. Excited and nervous to show off what you've learned, you start to spe...

While Thanksgiving isn't until the end of the year in the United States and Canada, it's a great time to start learning how to say "thank you" in as many languages as possible! If you wanted to say thank you to everyone on the planet, you'd probably ne...

"I gave up studying philosophy. After all, when will I ever need it in my daily life?" "There's no way I'll ever sing like Adele, so what's the point in even taking lessons?" "What's the use of learning tennis if I won't even be good enough...

Are you thinking about learning a new language? If so, congratulations! You're about to embark on a fascinating and rewarding journey that is filled with countless benefits. Do you know which language you would like to learn? If not, you're not alone. B...

This is a guest post by Andrea Reisenauer Between Brexit, the recent US election, and important upcoming elections in France, Germany, and Iran, 2016 and 2017 will mark significant years in world politics. From immigration policy to legislative repres...

The 21st century has brought more than just new technology and globalization. It's also brought with it a more fast-paced and impatient society than ever before, a society that no longer has the time it once had to sit in a language class and study a text...

By Andrea Reisenauer, guest blogger. A few months ago, we took a look at some of the world's most spoken languages. From Spanish to Russian to Arabic and everything in between, the world's 15 most spoken languages are spoken by nearly half of the ...

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 update...

By Andrea Reisenauer, guest blogger.  Becoming Conversational: Five Tips for "Fluency"  You've started learning a new language. You memorize new vocabulary words, use flashcards, practice conjugating verbs, study new grammar topics, and then comes th...

Recently, we talked about whether or not it's really possible to learn a language online (for those who missed it, the short answer is: yes!). There is a catch, though. While it is possible to learn a language online, it's only possible for those who take...

Learning a language is a fascinating, complex journey into a new culture and way of thinking. It forces us to challenge our minds, memories and mouths and to step out of our comfort zones. For many of us adults, this can sometimes be an uncomfortable expe...

Spanish Hacks! As one of the world's most spoken languages and the second most spoken language in the United States, there's never been a better time to learn Spanish. Whether you've been studying Spanish for years or are considering giving Spanish a tr...

Hi all We recently pushed out a significant update to the Rocket Languages members areas! The main differences that you will notice are: The page load times should be faster and general functionality will also happen more quickly. The badges ...

Does learning a language online really work? Everywhere you turn, whether it be at work or a local restaurant, you're surrounded by data, the internet, computers, tablets and smart phones. If technology follows you everywhere you go, then why not use it...

If you wanted to say hello to everyone on the planet, you'd probably need to learn around 7,000 languages. Fortunately, however, there's a better way to greet as many people on the globe as possible. By learning how to say "hello" in the world's 50 most ...

Hi everyone On Monday, May 9, 2016 between 2:30 AM and 6:30 AM EST, Rocket Languages will be conducting system maintenance. (You can check out what time/day this is in your area here.) Please be advised that the entire site will be unavailable du...

Ancient Greek texts, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Old Norse Viking ruins... Who isn't fascinated by the languages of the past? Whether you're hoping to go on an Indiana-Jones-style adventure, read ancient sacred texts, learn from the past or simply hope to le...

My grandmother recently started learning Spanish. Now, every time we excitedly speak together, I try and see how much she remembers by asking her basic questions like " ¿Cómo estás? " and " ¿Cómo te llamas? " It's amazing how much she remembers, and I th...

How many languages do you think there are in the world? Several hundred? Several thousand, maybe? It's a very simple question, but the answer isn't quite so simple. Before we take a look at the numbers, let's talk a little bit about why counting the num...

The Three Most Difficult Languages for English Speakers to Learn Learning a language isn't easy, and some languages are naturally more difficult than others, especially for us native English speakers. There are over 6,500 languages spoken throughout ...

In our increasingly global and high speed world, there is more information at our fingertips than ever before, and we're also more impatient to attain it. We want to maximize our time as much as possible, and the same goes for language learning. The quest...

What are the benefits of learning another language? Does learning a foreign language just seem like too much work to be worth your time? Are you worried that learning a second--or third, or fourth--language will just result in confusion? If so, you'r...

Let's face it: you've probably got a busy life. Between work or school, family, friends, chores, errands, appointments, and just relaxing every once in a while, there's never enough time in the day...And now you've decided to take on a whole new challenge...

Hi all Just a quick note about a new feature that several people have been asking for... Hotkeys! Hotkeys help speed up the process of going through various functions on your desktop/laptop browser. Instead of having to use your mouse, you can just p...

From traveling to textbooks and speaking to software, there are more ways to learn a language than ever before. With all of the options out there, it's also more difficult to chose the best method for you than ever before. So what's the best way to learn ...

Hi to all I am excited to announce that we have just released a significant update to the FlashCard system. The major changes include; The ability to set what you see on each side of the FlashCard. For example those members using the Chinese Flas...

Have you always wanted to know how to learn a new language, but don't even know where to start? The very idea of learning a language can be overwhelming, especially for those without previous language learning experience. With the right knowledge, expe...

Bonjour tout le monde Some of you may have noticed a new feature that has been added to the sidebar of your Rocket Languages course! It looks like this; What this does is allow you to set the difficulty level of Rocket Record to suit your lea...

How many times have you made the excuse that you’re just too old to learn a new language? Well, I hate to tell you this, but that’s a pretty transparent excuse for not wanting to learn. The truth is, it is entirely possible, even easy to learn a langua...

Hi all Your feedback has resonated with us loud and clear. While for the majority of people the 2016 Edition works fine, for a significant few the experience hasn't been great and for that I apologize. Some people have asked how it got to this stage wh...

Hi all Great news! The party has started. The Rocket Languages 2016 edition is live! If you haven’t logged in for a while, now is a great time to get back into it. If you are already a Rocket Languages member, you get access to all the great new ...

Hola, Bonjour and more! There’s a big celebration coming here at Rocket Languages! Very soon we will be unleashing the 2016 edition of all of our courses, and we are having a huge party to celebrate over 9 months of hard work. The house has been cl...