Find out what actual users have to say about our courses through their Rocket Languages reviews.
The only reservation I have is the fact that basic, essential grammar is not part of the first lessons. For instance, basic conjugations of "to be" or "to have" are not detailed and explained, but simply mentioned during lessons.
This is a problem since the grammar of the Spanish language is different than of the English language.
With this exception, I am content with the quality of the course.
I am a visual learner,
so I need a visual phonetic interpretation of the language
before I can pronounce it.
Unfortunately,
Rocket Language only does this to my pronunciation attempt.
Response from Rocket Languages
Thanks for your review, Phillip. All French words and phrases included in the course are accompanied by both written French, and by English translations, as well as audio to tune your ear to French pronunciation. Our podcast-style audio lessons are fully transcribed. Unfortunately, we don't provide a phonetic interpretation of the language, but the following two lessons help learners recognize the sounds that each letter or accents make: "Alphabet and Pronunciation"; " Important Pronunciation Tips". I hope that helps! All the best with your language learning.
I have not yet progressed very far into the course, but for as far as I have gone, Rocket compares favorably with Pimsleur courses I have used. I like the available transcripts and computer material. Being able to actually see the words helps a great deal in getting the pronunciation down faster correctly. The recordings are a little too chatty and waste a bit of time better devoted to the language itself. I look forward to your Russian course.
So far RL is okay. The audios are entertaining, but a tad slow and I wished that they were a bit less English-heavy as it really breaks my French-thinking mindset. Any technical issues (and there are quite a few given the nature of the voice recognition software) that are reported fall onto deaf ears. Overall, it's an okay program, but needs heavy supplementation from grammar and vocab books (as all learners should have anyway).
It is a good program/service, I think good value for money. But the voice detection I assume is non-existent. Why? For any word in the Japanese module, I can say anything and I get recorded as correct. Nami (Name) I can say "Yellow" or "Brick" or "Superman", they all register as points. So both the voice detection and points system is rather irrelevant in its current state. But if you come for the exposure to words, practice out-loud yourself and don't need some software telling you that you are hitting the mark correctly, I think it is still worth it. It would be worth getting some quality A.I. software that really does test one's pronunciation of native speech - the one Rosetta Stone 3 had was pretty good, but their product has gone down hill since then.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi Alan - Please make sure that the Rocket Record difficulty is set to "Hard". You can do this via the Quick Settings link from within any lesson. Hopefully that helps!
It is difficult to begin--there is no easy way to start learning right off the bat, one has to search for the book/lessons. Learning would be easier if you could click a button to take you to a lesson (the most recent), with links to all of the information you need to continue on. This way you can just click start and get back to learning.
Very poor experience regarding the numerous simple spelling mistakes and inconsistent and sometimes just plain wrong translations. I expected much more from a paid for language learning tool.
Response from Rocket Languages
Thanks so much for your review. When writing translations, we try to find a balance between being as literal as possible, while also conveying the meaning of a sentence. If there are any phrases you think we could translate more literally, please don't hesitate to send them through to our customer support team. Regarding spelling errors, we are in the process of going through all of the Rocket French lessons at the moment, and so you should soon find that this is no longer an issue. Our apologies for the frustration caused!
Bon, J'aime les langues et Rocket French m'a donné une bonne chance pour pratiquer la langue français. J'ai trouvé une bonne oppurtunite pour l'ecriture, la partie oral et l'écoute. Bien sûr j'ai besoin de pratiquer la conversation, je crois que la conversation est le chose plus importante, j'espère que Rocket French a un moyen pour fait la conversation entre éleves
hi. i didn't feel like 7 days was a long enough trial. with working all day and a household to run at night that doesn't leave much time to get even a little grip on the language. i find the price a little too high for me. i'm a single mom of 4. not easy
Following the verbiage on the conversation pieces is great When repeating the words given in vocabulary, the words are spoken way too fast and it is hard to understand or to keep up with it. My recommendation would be to speak those words slower so the non-native speaker can follow easily regardless of age or where are you from. Also, the flashcards need sound for it.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi Valerie, thank you for your review. We're glad that you are enjoying the conversation aspects of the course, we will pass your feedback concerning the speed on to the development team. Regarding the flashcards, you can turn on audio for these by clicking on the setting gear in the activity and then selecting "Play audio on reveal." All the best!