Rocket French Reviews
Find out what actual users have to say about our courses through their Rocket French reviews.
Rocket Languages review criteria
I like Rocket French and have found it helpful, but if you're a person who doesn't memorize sentences well in order to repeat them back orally or in writing, you may get frustrated. I can actually converse in French at an intermediate level, but I'm not able to memorize these lesson passages because, in the moment of studying, their only importance is as text to attach to my brain long enough to recant for the machine. Frankly, I don't learn fluidity from memorizing but from composing my own sentences, so I much prefer studying the vocabulary and the grammar, and those lessons here are very good and give me the needed tools. I think it would be a lot of work, but it would be cool if Rocket French could restructure for an experience that involved less rote repetition of longer texts. If you don't think you'd be disappointed by this, then it may be perfect for you.
Overall a good course - perhaps a few too many bells and whistles. In the French course the instructor needs to speak MUCH more slowly and enunciate more clearly. Speaking too fast, especially in the early stages, does NOT provide the student with proper pronunciation. It may be the way many French people speak day to day, but you need to learn the proper way to say things before speaking rapidly. I speak some French and what I'm hearing is not clear for a new student to learn properly.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi Russell - It usually does take some time for ears to be trained to a new language. It can be a good idea to listen to a French radio station during the day to help with this process.
The app on iPhone doesn’t work property. After I email the customer service for a few days, the problem still has not been solved. The app is not as good as the desktop version., which is a shame. The responses from customer service seem slow. The audio lessons are interesting but the culture and language don’t make me feel interested about learning. There are definitely things that require improvement.
I've only done the trial version but I decided not to buy it not because of the content; the material is quite good actually and, considering it's for life, the price is fair as well. But the activities cannot be done through mobile or app properly, the recording won't recognize what's said, the written activities never goes on to the next, the platform only works properly on desktop PC and the whole purpose is that you can learn anywhere, whenever. If I can't use my mobile and be alone when recording my pronunciation or I can't answer the cards on my free time then the "anywhere/whenever" thing is null
UMMMMM FIRST OF ALL IT WON'T LET ME DO OTHER LESSONS BECAUSE I'M JUST DOING THE FREE PART - IT ADVERTISES THAT IT'S FREE - A COMPLETE TRICK!!!! OUTRAGEOUS! IT DOESN'T TEACH YOU PROPERLY - IT TELLS YOU TO REPEAT THE STATEMENT/QUESTION AND THAT'S IT!!! NOTHING ELSE! I AM VERY UNSATISFIED WITH THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE AND WOULD RECOMMEND NOT LEARNING FRENCH FROM THIS HORRIBLE WEBSITE - I WOULD SUGGEST NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THIS WEBSITE!!! A SCAM, I TELL YOU!
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi there - It does say that it's a free trial with sample lessons! I am not sure how that constitutes a scam!
The course is fine and the french lessons are in good taste but for a developing country like Brazil the prices are absurdly high and literally makes it impossible for me to actually buy the course.
Voice recognition is very variable with certain short words. eg un, deux trois. The rest of the numbers appear fine. How do you get better than 35% on a one word answer eg être?
Overall I think the programme is very good
Some days it is good, other days voice and speech recognition is plain atrocious and frustrating. Whole phrases 'not heard', words (or numbers) plucked out of nowhere that bear no resemblance to what was said. And this on a high speed internet connection. That wouldn't be half as frustrating come each time with a useless pop-up on what to do. Will I keep using it - yes. Can it be useful - yes. Does its voice recognition engine need to be improved - YES.
Overall the course has some good points and some not so good,
The good is the audio course, I am not sure how far it can get you towards fluency but every little helps and the course does present information well. I found the banter a tad annoying at first but it's grown on me and I have come across stuff that i haven't seen elsewhere. My feeling is that it will get you no further than basic communication and that michel thomas method is far better, as is pimsleur and paul noble. I think their methods get you speaking and understanding more effectively and more quickly; that said this is a good supplement to other learning systems.
The bad for me is the grammar section. It is basically just explanations that could have come from any textbook but without exercises that support the material very well. I think for what they are doing here a textbook is a better option, its cheaper and you will get better reinforcement of the lessons. In fact the quizes attached seem completely irrelevant and are just vocab memorization.
The quizzes for the most part are just dull to be honest.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi Mark - Thanks for the detailed review. Rocket French is going to be re-examined soon, especially with regards to the quizzes.
I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to try to use this program. The program has so much trouble hearing what I'm repeating back to it. The company's FAQ says to use headsets; I am. Then it says it's because they have it tuned to "native speakers." Well, what good does that do a person who is not native? I don't think native speakers are using RF! I'm not new to the French language so my pronunciation is not bad. I can only imagine how annoyed someone completely new to this would be feeling right now. If it's anything close to how I feel, it's not very good.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi Lynn - I have emailed you to find out more about what's going on. The voice recognition system works off a Google database so it should be very exact.
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