Rocket Languages Reviews

Initially I liked the program. But there are some frustrating elements that could be improved.
1. Too often new nouns are presented without the prefix. To really build vocabulary, we need to know whether a noun is masculine or feminine.
2. Too often expressions are presented only in the casual "tu" form. Yet most of the time we would likely need to use the formal "vous" form. But that is not provided in many of the lessons.
3. Some of the vocabulary in the lessons is not very practical. It would be better if the words chosen for a lesson were those most likely to be used on a daily basis.
4. The program does not save your progress. You have to remember where you left off. When I log in it always takes me back to an early lesson that was completed some time ago.

I was somewhat reluctant to spend money on a Chinese language course as there are so many free resources available online. However, I decided to invest in Rocket Chinese so that I could follow a clear, structured course, to help me learn useful Chinese before I move to China to study later this year. I am so glad I did, as the course has been great. I love that I can download the audio lessons to practise when I have no internet access. I also like how each lesson contains not only the interactive audio, but also writing and speaking exercises, with the ability to record my speech and hear it back to compare it to the native speaker. I have already recommended Rocket Chinese to others who will be moving to study in China at the same time as myself.

We spend a few months of most years in Brazil, so I already speak a lot of Portuguese. I've never taken a formal course, however; learning has mostly been just from conversation. I hesitated to buy this program because I already speak so much, but I bought it because I know that I have lots of gaps to fill. Surprise: It's helping so much! In a matter of days, I've corrected heaps of mistakes I didn't even realize I was making. I can only imagine how helpful this would be if I'd started out with a program like this. Better late than never!

I'm from Italy, born into a family that speaks Italian. My family raised me to speak English, and so I've never learned Italian. I've always been interested in my ancestry and wanted to learn more. Though my English isn't the best, and I know a lot of Italian, this site really helps me learn more of the language. I recommend it to anyone with the desire to learn the Italian language.

Good morning,

I have recently purchased Rocket Italian and Have just started Module 1. It seems there is a glitch in the audio depiction software every time you are asked to repeat the numbers one, two, three.

Though this does not seem like a big deal, it is to me because it prevents me from getting 100% on the lesson. Being I found this so early on can I be expecting to see more glitches with future modules? Please advise on how to rectify this issue, I am dissatisfied with this product already in its early stages.

Thomas Attilio Casella

I love learning new languages! I can speak conversational German and, to a lesser extent, Croatian. Recently I was inspired to learn Spanish by a friend and so I spent hours and hours poring over reviews of the various online language learning options. There were so many options out there but nothing really felt like it was "the one" until I came across Rocket Spanish! Now, some people are happy with simply learning how to speak a language by only learning phrases but I'm one of those who really need to understand the grammar behind the phrases and sentences. So, when I came across Rocket Spanish, I was extremely excited to see that, not only will I get to learn to speak the language like a native speaker and in a way that suits my learning style (Visual) but also that the course is packed with quality lessons in grammar. What really impresses me about Rocket Spanish is the emphasis on repeating words or phrases out loud (not just in my head). This is such an important factor in accelerating one's fluency in a non-native language. After all, if you want to speak a new language, then you really do need to speak it out loud! I only wish that I had come across Rocket when I learned German and Croatian! It would most certainly have saved me countless hours and dollars wasted on ineffective methods.

Rocket language is so cool , it is real helpful, i just cant say how greatful i am for your assistance, now i can pronounce alot of korean words without a problem hopefull i wil be with you for a very long time it so amazing and understandible

Terrible experience with the Rocket Languages. I have been struggling to find a motivation to keep studying but the boring experience that the platform gives you doesn't lead you anywhere. It's just a bunch of "repeat" this, "repeat "that" that you will be closing the browser before finishing the audio lesson. Not only that, the lack of explanation that the teachers give you and makes you need to find other places to learn it's absurd. If I knew this experience would go on, I would have chosen Google Translator instead. If I could come back, I wouldn't buy.

I love love love this program, best online experience, despite my faulty internet connections (rural property!!!) Easy to make progress as we can repeat and listen to ourselves throughout each level...testing is reinforcing and being able to write, read and speak is perfect. Thank you.

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.