Rocket Languages Reviews

It is very frustrating that I cannot offline download the lessons in the app itself on my iPhone. It would have been better that way. I want to be able to use it in the car that way. I know you can download it through iTunes, but that is too cumbersome.

I would recommend Rocket Languages if you are a complete beginner. But it is frustrating for someone, who has basic familiarity with the language and is looking to improve. The program has too many elements, like the speaking, writing, quizzing, etc. And the conversations are so basic and repetitive that it is annoying. I wish there was a version that offered a refresher approach or a reading based approach for those who know the basics and want to expand their vocabulary and brush on grammar. Alternatively, it would be nice if one didn't have to purchase the basic levels in order to get the more advanced sessions. Rocket language dialogs seem to focus more on tourist activities. Also, I think it would be useful to have all of the presenters speaking with the proper accent. In the German course, only one of the presenters is a native speaker. Finally, the speech recognition is slow and often spotty - and that's on the desktop version. In the iOS app, many of the quiz/practice functions don't work at all. I purchased the program because it was on sale, but I should have just relied on reading German books and media and on watching movies in German.

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Overall, I understand the structure of the course, but it seems like many aspects, especially in testing, are done by a cookie-cutter algorithm which makes some really critical mistakes.

First, some technical issues. I use Chrome, as recommended, and there are a few things missing. Most notably, the on-screen Korean keyboard is not there. Also, I often do not have the button to mark a Writing lesson as completed. Finally, unlike in the app, there is no way for me to cut a voice recording off if I wish to restart, which often means waiting quite a while for the program to try to sort through gibberish.

Now, for the "cookie-cutter" aspect that bothers me. Frequently in the Audio lessons, the native speakers will say something that was not part of the lesson. This is fine, except that these phrases get put in the testing sections. For example, in the very first lesson there are introductions of the two native speakers. One says that he served in the Korean Marine Corps, then was discharged and migrated to the United States with his parents. He says this in Korean. This is a great way to get acquainted with the sound of the language. However, then this phrase comes up in the testing section of the exam.

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As a completely new person to Korean, this course is not what I should have chosen to begin with. To be able to feel like you "completed" the lesson, you have to write things in a language they have not taught you yet! The lessons are too long and having to learn the "extras" to feel like you completed the material they were focusing on is also frustrating. I have no incentive to move through the material, because I feel like I can't even perfect the first few lessons!
The voice detection sometimes is very poor, which means saying the same thing fifty times at lightning speed to get credit for it. I like other programs for learning Korean better than this one. I might come back to it after I have a better foundation.

I've enjoyed learning Spanish with Rocket Languages, but delving into Korean proved to be unexpected challenging. Any Korean teaching material that starts from the beginner level should include lessons on Hangul, but that's lacking in Rocket Language Korean. Fine, I taught myself Hangul using other sources. Not being familiar with Asian languages in general, Korean was much harder for me to pronounce and speak quickly. The speaking exercises are way too demanding in terms of accuracy of pronunciation and the speed at which you have to respond and often my responses get truncated halfway because I'm trying to remember the exact wording. From the very first introductory lesson, there are a lot of more complicated phrases and vocab that get thrown in which are tested, and almost impossible for a beginner to get right. It's been a frustrating experience all around. I guess I'll stick to Romance languages, and use other materials to learn Korean.

My overall impression of the level 1 program is that, with the exception of vocabulary, and the present tense, Rocket Italian Level 1 is very weak on teaching the student Italian grammar. An example of this is the use of prepositions. These seem to pop up everywhere with no explanation as to the rules governing their use (like the use of "di" which has at least 15 different meanings!), Level 1 aggravates this problem by frequently giving you lengthy Italian phrases in th flash cards & the "Know It" section to memorize. These contain grammatical structures that are never addressed in the course. Also, it makes no provision for different responses that the student may have translated correctly even though it is different from the translation in the course.

I would suggest they introduce a grammatical rule give some examples, & and then drills on that rule. The drills would also incorporate review of a verb tense. This would reinforce the latter and help us master both until they become second nature.

Instead, we waste enormous amounts of time memorizing lengthy sentences with no idea of the grammatical rules which govern the sentences. These are sentences which we will never use and quickly forget.

I was very satisfied with Rocket French Intermediate, so I purchased the Travelogue. Unfortunately, the Travelogue was highly disappointing. It is of very limited value as a language learning tool, and its interest as a cultural document was modest at best. I can't imagine wanting to go through it more than once. Additionally, it is poorly recorded or edited, with the French dialogue for some reason sounding muffled. After a good initial experience with Rocket French, this course has soured me on the program.

I couldn't get into it as I am at a more advanced level and I could find much in my trial edition. I never signed up to pay because of that. I didn't use customer service and can't really say about the price and I don't remember what it was. I'm guessing it would be okay if I had seen that the program was helpful in the trial. It would help to have a more helpful trial version.

Wonderful woman Italian speaker. Most beautiful Roman Italian. But totally exasperating waste of time as the American goes on and on and on with useless chit chat. I don't have that time to waste and have given up on this program

Hi Richard - Did you notice the Language & Culture lessons? They have thousands of Italian words and phrases that don't have the "chit-chat". In saying that many people do find the chit-chat entertaining.

A great way to get your feet wet to a number of different languages. A lot of effort has gone into the courses and while there are still some bugs to be worked out like spelling mistakes and videos that are to fast for a beginner, the courses can be an entertaining way to get used to speaking different languages.