Rocket Languages Reviews

Rocket italian is not bad, but it could be so much better.

I'm still studying Level 1 - Unit 3 but I have noticed several issues:
- The audio tracks are a bit long for my taste. They take from 20 to 30 minutes and are spoken very slowly. The website and the app don't allow you to speed it up, so you have to download the tracks in order to do it;
- The conversations are between a native italian and a heavily accented american. I am not a native english speaker and several of the rocket students also aren't so I don't see why not using only native italian speakers on the audio tracks
- There are several small translation mistakes and inadequacies, over time they start being annoying;
- Some audios should be reviewed/updated, the other day I heard one that made reference to the year 2008.

Also, Rocket Languages is oblivious to the existence of potential students in developing countries (as in my case) when establishing their pricing strategy. These courses are way more expensive for me, for instance, as they are for my american or european counterparts, when purchase power is concerned.

Rocket languages also does not give meaningful discounts when you enroll in more than one language.

think ,that Rocket Languages is very effective,especially for its methodology,one have the opportunity to listen over and over to comprhend the meanings and above all the native pronunciation.

Really is a very effective course.thanks

I have no plans to visit Egypt, but I want to read Naguib Mafouz's books without having to look up all the dialog, word by word, so I was interested in at least an introduction to Egyptian. The Rocket Arabic course offers far more than an introduction - there's a mass of the spoken language, if not much grammar, which seems pretty easy after some MSA. I skipped ahead from Module 1 to Module 4 (which has a lesson with Naguib Mafouz in the title) and decided to finally try out the Chrome version to see how it graded my pronunciation. The app graded my MSA at 100% (set on Hard), but routinely flunked my Egyptian (around 30%) - it wanted quhlumu ruhsuhsun, not alum whatever for pencil. So I'm going back to Firefox and not worrying about the pronunciation, beyond trying to mimic the native speaker as closely as possible. Once I finish Module 4 I'll go back to 2 and proceed in order from there (happily skipping the lessons on numbers, which are absolutely essential when you're in a country but take an inordinate amount of time if you really just want a reading knowledge of a language).

As far as recommending Rocket Arabic to a friend, it really depends on what they want it for.

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I agree with several reviewers that the narrator, Sarah is possibly the most monotone person on the planet. I mean, she gives Ben Stein a run for his money. The product idea is great and when it's working properly, it's the best on the market. Unfortunately, I can't gove it five or even four stars as it's just too buggy (sometimes the audio doesn't play or double plays - sounds like there are two Sayakas or Kennys competing for my attention - or the mic doesn't work at times). Hopefully, those are fixed soon!

The voice narrator needs to be replaced, she is too monotone. Lessons should still to an extent reteach verb forms or grammar rules they have mentioned before, instead of telling the audience to refer to an obscure moment in a previous audio session. Besides that, the course is helpful.

It is very easy to download an audio lecture and listen along in the car. 20 minute lectures aren't too long to become bored or tired, and they're not too short to feel like you didn't receive enough information. I am not great at learning languages, but this program is actually helping me understand and speak Italian rather quickly!

I am enjoying this learning system. It gets right down to business and I like that.

Wonderful teaching system so far! Much better than other methods I've tried.

I am loving learning the language of my grandmother by this system. She lived with me and my parents in Australia until I was 12 and she occasionally spoke and sang to me in Italian. That was nearly 50 years ago and as a result I spoke Italian like a 2 year old - pointing and naming things with no grammar or modern constructions when I started this course. Lots of practice and revision is needed but I find myself starting to think in Italian!

I spent a month in Italy in 1976 and got by with mime and pointing and naming but we are finally going back there in September to a Villa in Tuscany where my husband is doing a photography masterclass. I will travel around solo by public transport to Sienna, Florence and Pisa and complete part of the Camino walk. So I've been studying with Rocket and finding it fantastic. The practical nature of the conversations for a tourist when combined with the excellent grammar instructions ( I was an English teacher) has been perfect.
I purchased all three Levels of Italian and will have fully completed Level 1 by the time we travel and work on the others when we get back. Hopefully we can return to Italy in future years to make full use of this excellent resource.

I like the way review is spiraled into several lessons, so the words really stick. I also like the multimodal practice with each lesson. I expected to have some difficulty picking up Italian after many years of not practicing any language except English, but I'm learning more quickly and remembering more thorougly than I thought I would. Tutto bravo!