Rocket Chinese Reviews

I'm currently only halfway through the second lesson, but it seems good so far. You should be aware that the main reason I'm writing this review, is because they'll give me $10 cash back if I do.

Note that there are a lot of special offers, and the one they email you may not be the best one available at the time. Also, if you're paying by credit card, and you're not in the US, you will probably get a better deal if you pay in USD, and let your bank do the currency conversion, instead of taking the option to pay in your local currency.

Honestly though, it does seem pretty good so far, and seems to be very good value.

Great value for price! I like the browser but was really impressed with the app on IOS. Since I am on the go quite often, it is nice to learn Mandarin and check things off right on my phone. The more exposure to the language the better, and now I don't have to just sit at a computer all day and learn. Despite a few little bugs it has been more than I expected and I would recommend Rocket over Rosetta Stone anytime.

Very good interaction, even though there is no actual interaction with a live person. The testing is excellent with repetition of phrases. One thing I would like is a vocabulary list for each lesson.

This app is like building Noah's Ark. It's hard at first, but eventually the work bears fruit. This forces you to practice everything that is studying the language. Speaking, writing, reading comprehension, naturally connecting associations.

On the plus side, the website is attractive and functions well. The interactive lessons are well-structured and nicely done. I appreciate that they make continued improvements, such as the addition of Write It in the testing sections. Also appreciate that both sound and text are downloadable and the website allows you to listen to only the parts of the lessons you want. I haven't taken advantage of any "social" features like the Forum but I appreciate that Rocket tries to foster a community. The "points" system is an interesting idea.

On the downside, I think there's too much repetition of non-essential vocabulary in the testing sections (I really don't think lesson or unit are words to keep hammering me with). I also think built-in flashcards linked to My Vocabulary would be nice or perhaps automated flashcards for each section. It's also not clear the sequencing of the lessons. This is partially intentional but you'll find yourself tested on material you haven't seen if you don't move across all the lesson types. That said, I've given feedback to the team on many points and they've nearly always been responsive and eager to help and take feedback.

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So far so good, quite pricy though. And maybe it would be fun with something for visual learners. Overall it is very good but still has potential to improve. I have no experience of the customer service so that one is neither good or bad.
How likely I'm to buy it again depends on if I get a big discount on another language.

The ability to download the interactive audio and listen to it offline is great for making use of my time commuting on the London underground, then practicing with the Hear-It / Say-It / Know-It when I get home in the evening.
I hope they make the mobile-app have an offline mode too one day so that I can do the hear/say/know-it practice off-line too.

I think the overall teaching style of this program is pretty great, but the execution is not there yet.

The major shortcoming is the male's pronunciation. I am a complete beginner to studying Chinese, but it's incredibly obvious his pronunciation is absolutely awful. During the conversations, I can understand the female perfectly fine, but I still can't understand the male speaker well even after studying the lesson. I also worry that I may pick up bad habits myself even listening to his speech.

Another minor drawback is that I do not believe there is a way to zoom in or make the characters larger on the mobile app, which is unfortunate since I tend to study these lessons while exercising on an elliptical or other cardio machine, so the phone is a fair distance away from my eyes.

A feature I wish they would add in the future is increased robustness of the conversations. Instead of teaching us exactly one perfectly scripted conversation, teach us variations. Most of the time there are a handful of different ways someone could say the same thing, so even if the conversation is relatively simple in content, learning just one specific tightly scripted conversation is going to be pretty useless once you step out into the real world.

Overall, Rocket Chinese is founded on good ideas and has solid potential, I hope it will strive to improve and live up to the potential I see.

If you are looking to learn to speak a language, especially without living in the country, this software makes it easy. Rather than memorizing words all day and getting bored, this software keeps you interested and gets you speaking quickly!

There are many good tools to practice Chinese. I really like the rocket record where you can compare the pronunciation with Chinese speaking people. The only thing that I am missing is that there should be a prepared vocabulary for each chapter.