Find out what actual users have to say about our courses through their Rocket Languages reviews.
Overall, I think the Rocket French folks have developed a pretty good system to learn French, so I won't go into detail about the things that I like. The big downside, however, is how their system tracks how far you've progressed in each module. For example, I just finished module 3.9, and the icons have changed from no color to the following colors and comments:
FLASHCARDS = ORANGE (GOOD)
HEAR-IT = ORANGE (GOOD)
WRITE-IT = ORANGE (GOOD)
KNOW-IT = ORANGE (GOOD)
QUIZ = GREEN (EASY)
That is not sufficient. What I want (and need) to know is how often I have reviewed each module and how I have done each time. So I have created an offline spreadsheet that shows the following for each section that I have studied. For example here is how I have tracked section 3.4 that I have reviewed several times and self-graded:
11/8/22 = D, 11/9/22 = C, 11/20/22 = C, 11/23/22 = B
You can see that first studied this module on 11/8/22, and then reviewed is subsequently three times, and my self-grade has improved from the initial D to a B. And, instead of a self-grade, I would much prefer to see the percentage of answers I got right.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi Dan, thank you for your review and for this feature request. We have passed this request on to the Development team for their consideration. We hope you continue to enjoy learning with Rocket French!
Buggy on Ventura Safari, the most current MacOS and browser version.
Travelogue way too advanced and difficult to avoid.
Encountered user setup error that service and support quickly corrected.
So far greatly prefer Pimsleur and will likely invoke refund option.
Response from Rocket Languages
Hi David, thank you for your review and we apologize for the problems that you are having with the program. We generally recommend using Chrome as a browser as it has the more powerful technology that our voice recognition software requires. Regarding your other points, we have sent you an email about all this.
The more I go through the course, the more frustrating it gets. Instead of learning and practicing individual words, I'm supposed to memorize incredibly complex sentences without understanding the meaning of how all the words work together in the sentence. There is no logical progression from learning words to forming sentences. As a result, I forget everything immediately and feel demotivated. And I stumble over the pronunciation because I have to say ten new words at a time. There is no daily reinforcement of previous lessons, which makes the course meaningless over time.
Response from Rocket Languages
Thank you for your review, Daniel. If you are finding the Interactive Audio lessons quite challenging, then we would recommend going through the Language and Culture lessons first. Once you have a better understanding of how the language works, you may find that the sentences make more sense. If you continue to find yourself feeling demotivated, please don't hesitate to reach out to the customer support team on [email protected].
First of all, In the middle of exercises (as I'm trying to speak a German phrase) I get annoying popup windows asking me to write a review of Rocket German. I think that's pretty indicative of how much Rocket cares about me actually learning, an how much it just wants more business. In fact, just above this box where I'm typing, Rocket has a link to some "example reviews" which are glowing reports of how when you buy RG, all your wildest fantasies will come true. Since RG insists, though, here is my review...***
Right after I paid $250 dollars for the three German courses (the first of which I didn't even want, but you have no option to remove it from the bundle) I get directed to another page telling me I should really also buy another add-on course that normally costs $50, but they're going to give it to me for $30. Classic used-car salesman tactic. I decline. I'm directed to another page saying "Ok, we'll give it to you for $20, but only if you buy it right now. No kidding, this is your last chance!" Does it get any more sleazy than that?***
The German course was clearly written by native German speakers, which is good, but not really checked by a native English speaker for the quality of the English dialogue.
I absolutely want to love this program. The content is great. The audio lessons are top notch, but I can't get anything to work correctly on any device and 20 days in and still no contact from a manager or tech after several email requests and live chat requests for it.
I've submitted a pile of screen captures and video of the errors. I've tried multiple devices and computers.
Marie G responds quickly over live chat, but nothing ever seems to come of it.
The program has great content, but trying to use it is is beyond infuriating.
At this point I'm not prepared to keep the product unless it's next to free.
Response from Rocket Languages
Response from Rocket Languages: Thanks for your review Jesse. Our sincere apologies for the trouble you've had with your course, and for the delay in getting some help for you. We will get some assistance from the IT team and get back to you ASAP.
not loving all of the badge interrruptions within the lesson! very disruptive.
Response from Rocket Languages
Thanks so much for your feedback, it's much appreciated. As you will know, badges are issued as you reach certain points goals. They are meant to offer extra incentive for learners, so we're sorry to hear that you find them distracting. Unfortunately there is no current way to opt out of the points system, but we will pass your feedback onto the IT team for their consideration. We hope you are enjoying your language learning otherwise. Please don't hesitate to contact Customer Support directly if there is anything we can help you with.
I just started the advanced course and I find the conversation very difficult to follow. It is hard to
Understand because the speech is fast and slurred not clearly spoken. Especially when new words and phrases are used..
The first two courses don’t prepare you well enough with verb conjugation either.
Response from Rocket Languages
Response from Rocket Languages: Thanks so much for your review. We would love for you to contact the Customer Support team with information on the conversations you are having trouble with so we can check them from here. We would also encourage you to post any verb conjugation-related questions you have on the forum, which you will find by clicking on your avatar in the top-right corner of your members area, and selecting Tools. We look forward to hearing from you.
Almost 2 months in, I've requested a refund. I hate this ridiculously juvenile course.
I hate this course so passionately. It's juvenile, stupid "silly" and so so SO annoying. I literally do not understand how any adult could do this course. I cannot stand the banter with Amy for another second. Does irritation, annoyance, and flat-out anger increase retention? If so maybe Rocket Spanish is on to something...but I want to shake the people leaving positive reviews and ask them what the WHAT is wrong with them. I beg you, do the free trial lesson of whatever level, and if you're annoyed with all the English stupidity, know that it does NOT get better. It does not decrease. It will only get worse. If you love Amy's voice, speaking in English, and want to listen to her kid around, this course is for you. OR...if you don't care about the audio lessons. I think buried in this course is some good content. And I know it's not meant to be audio-only. But the audio is THAT bad. Just don't do it. Maybe do it high or something. Might be tolerable. Probably not.
Response from Rocket Languages
Response from Rocket Languages: Thanks so much for your review. We're sorry to hear that you are not enjoying the tone of the Rocket Spanish lessons. We try to strike the right balance between fun lessons that aren't too silly/annoying or too dry/boring. It's not always to everyone's tastes, and of course, we don't get it right all the time. Rocket Spanish is usually pretty well-received by our learners, but we do appreciate all of the feedback that we get. We will pass your comments on to the Rocket Spanish team for their consideration. All the best with your language learning!
The overall experience is really great! My only concern or issue is the trainor talks VERY fats and it never hurts to talk slower so I reccommend you guys get on that or people may stop buying it out of frustration. But, that is the only thing I have found that is difficult about this training.
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
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!