The Most Frank And Honest Rocket Languages Review Ever Written

I love your review, You hav identified the critical points of the different programs.

I have taken Spanish in high school, college, and post college, as a college professor , I took students to Ecuador for 3 weeks each year, for spanish education and health of the counTry,
I have been working on duolingo for 4 years, and have finished all of the modules, but now working on proficiency. I am usually in the top two leaderboards. Unfortunately, duolingo has erased my work, has no customer support, and also no record of my paying the renewal for plus last week. I have had it, and need something else. Thanks a lot for your rEview.

Is rocket the best product for me?
Kathryn Hope

I’m disappointed about the apparent cancellation of the downloadable pdf lessons. I’m trying to figure out how to use Rocket German for homeschooling. I need the ability to make assignments, review completed assessments, and generally track my student’s progress. Having printed lessons would seem to help with that.

I’m interested in an issue that I have not seen discussed. If one were to, say, complete the 3rd level in Spanish, what could one actually DO with that? Read a Spanish newspaper? A personal letter? Understand a movie in Spanish? Have a conversation with a Spanish speaker about how work is going? Get a job in a social service agency dealing with Spanish speaking clients? In other words, for my time, effort, and money, what level of Spanish verbal and listening ability might I reasonably expect?

I’m not really interested in travel. There are many native Spanish speakers where I live.

Very helpful review. Thanks for your effort.

I’m interested in an issue that I have not seen discussed. If one were to, say, complete the 3rd level in Spanish, what could one actually DO with that? Read a Spanish newspaper? A personal letter? Understand a movie in Spanish? Have a conversation with a Spanish speaker about how work is going? Get a job in a social service agency dealing with Spanish speaking clients? In other words, for my time, effort, and money, what level of Spanish verbal and listening ability might I reasonably expect?

I’m not really interested in travel. There are many native Spanish speakers where I live.

Very helpful review. Thanks for your effort.

What would you recommend Japanese uncovered or rocket languages?

Hello,
I enjoyed reading your review of Rocket Languages. I am currently looking for a Spanish (maybe others too) foreign language curriculum for my children (ages 13 & 8) .
Would you recommend this program for kids? Thanks!

Hey Donovan,
Great review there. I’m definitely interested in the program. Realistically do you think B1-B2 is attainable with the program. If not do you think, with say mixing in some more reading heaving things like lingq and perhaps ( I understand your not the biggest fan of it) assimil.

If you were forced to choose between Rocket and Glossika, which would you choose for efficient, fluent speech?

I’m looking to be as conversationally fluent as fast as possible. Don’t read as impatient or as a hack, I understand that language acquisition and fluency come with time.

Two completely different products with different aims and really it depends on your learning style so I can’t really answer that.

It’s kind of like comparing apples to oranges. They’re both great products.

Mr. Nagel,
I am wanting to learn Spanish. I’m sure the differences are minute, but preferably Latin American Spanish as opposed to European Spanish.

I began this “quest” in April, 6 months ago. While scouring the internet for online courses, I decided on Duolingo. Mainly because it was free. I wanted to make sure that it was something that I was going to stick with before paying for a course.

I am now 180 some odd days in. I haven’t skipped a day yet and generally I’ll spend a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour each day studying.

My concern is this. I’ve learned a good bit of grammar, but i’m lost when it comes to conversation. Unfortunately, I live in an area with a small Hispanic population. The opportunities to engage in a beginner level Spanish conversation are few. I’ve tried listening to Hispanic television and some intermediate level podcast, but just don’t seem to be catching on very well.

Are there any language sites that you could recommend that will help me learn to “hear” the language better? The 2 main sites that I keep coming back to are Babble and Rocket. I just finished reading your review and watching your video on Rocket languages.

According to your review, it sounds promising. Do you have any knowledge of any other websites that I may look into? I haven’t looked yet, but I’m going to see if you have done any reviews on Babble.

Any input that you may provide would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Lanny

I’m wondering if there is a Language website that is geared more to

Try Synergy Spanish

This is a great extensive review! Just curious, as a beginner who wants to learn Spanish quickly (used lightly) but also in the most native/functional way possible, would you recommend I try Babbel or Rocket? It seems as though Babbel is the cheaper option, but been looking online at different reviews for awhile now and have confidence in your experienced opinion, so figured you might be able to rest the case!

The Rocket Languages website can’t be viewed in Safari on iPad. A huge blue square blocks out the page content. I have done website design and development for many years and this is one of the worst design/scripting flaws I have ever seen. RL do say that you need to be using Chrome to use all of their website features. But not everyone wants to use Chrome on their iPad. In fact, millions of iPad users only use Safari and have no desire to change to another browser. RL say that to get full voice functionality they have to use the Google API voice recognition system, which is only fully capable in Chrome. But this is going to lock out many prospective users who do not wish to use Chrome on their iPads. It might be fine on an Android tablet or phone because Chrome is the default browser. But most iOS users do not use and do not wish to use Chrome.
Now I know, RL say that on iOS you should use the app, which is purpose built for it. But what if you want to sign up and pay using your web browser, as I want to do today. (I don’t like using apps to do financial transactions. I much prefer a secured web browser.) Well, I can’t join up because the RL website is hidden behind a bloody great blue block! I don’t have access to a desktop computer at present, so I have to do transactions on my iPad. And I am NOT going to install Chrome just so I can join the RL course.
So there you have it: Rocket Languages have lost a potential customer who was going to buy their complete course!
May I make a suggestion to RL: Approach Apple about developing the Rocket Languages interactive course using Apple’s voice recognition system for people using Apple equipment and see if they will agree to give RL developers access to the API. Apple would probably charge RL, but in the end it would be a win-win for both companies. If Apple refuse, then it is their loss as well as RL’s as there are millions of potential users of RL’s excellent language course who are on iPad and would like to access the RL website in their Safari browser. At the moment Safari users in iOS are locked out. If you want customers you don’t lock them out! How insane a business practice is that!!

Following up my previous message, I found the solution to the problem viewing the Rocket Languages website: The big blue square blocking the Rocket Languages website content only appears when my iPad is held in (horizontal) landscape mode. When I hold my iPad in (vertical) portrait mode the big blue square disappears and the website content all appears as normal. The same occurs when viewing Help in the iOS app.
So there you have it - You can’t view the RL website in your iOS web browser with your iPad held in horizontal landscape mode. It can only be viewed with your iPad held in vertical portrait mode.
Still not good web design! A website should be equally viewable in landscape mode on your iPad as in portrait mode.

Was excited to start learning Japanese with Rocket Languages after reading all the positive reviews but maybe I’m using a different Rocket Languages: the voice recognition is so bad it’s virtually unusable.

What’s that, I’m just not saying right? Well I thought maybe that was it but even when I record the app voice and play it back to the app it doesn’t recognise it.

I’ve tried on web and iOS—buggy as hell.

Learning can be challenging but it shouldn’t be unnecessarily so.

Nomas, the voice recognition they use is Google web speech technology.

Basically, it’s as good as voice recognition gets. Google has some of the most advanced technology in the world for voice translation.

Not sure why yours isn’t working as well as it should.

Thank you for the honest review. I’ll start out with Rocket Language as I attempt to learn Spanish. Do you have any advice for other material I should be using simultaneously as I learn Spanish? I think more technical help is important. Any recommendations on other books or programs would be helpful. Thank you in advance.

Hey Kyle. I’ve put together a best resource list for Spanish here. I periodically add to it. Depends on what specific technical help you need as to what resource I’d recommend.

Thank you for this honest review. It helped me decide to purchase the full Spanish course. I am wondering, what are the Travelogues? Is it worth the extra $$? Thanks

Your 2019 update to Rocket Arabic is interesting. I’m currently giving Arabic another go. I studied MSA briefly a long while back, so at least I’m familiar with the script and the basic grammar concepts. I revisit Arabic occasionally over the years, and usually end up frustrated by the shocking lack of good resources for autodidacts.

Before I commit: Do you have a sense for how far Rocket will take you with Egyptian? I tried the free first lesson, and for the most part was impressed. And how was your experience with the voice recognition? Friends from Egypt tell me that the Google API is great, but I struggled with it in the pilot lesson. I would get 100% on words where I know I mispronounced a letter, or skipped the ‘ayn ... but could only get 35% on ‘easy’ words like la‘a (no) no matter how many times I tried.

Thank you for this review. I am an American homeschooling parent with three kids who have been taking Spanish through our state’s online public school. The elementary levels were pretty good, but my oldest started middle school this year, and the Spanish is AWFUL!! It is mostly culture with only a little language--so little language that my child is actually forgetting what she learned in years past. The audio is spoken so quickly that it’s hard to pick out any words at all, let alone understand everything they’re saying. Based on your review, I signed up for a free trial of Rocket Spanish and I am very happy to discover that their audio is very clearly spoken, starting slow and speeding up as you progress through the course. That one feature alone will make a HUGE difference for my kid. The point system and watching herself rise through the leaderboard will also help motivate her.

Also, I had never heard of italki before, so thank you for mentioning it. I used to have basic fluency in Swahili, but have forgotten most of it because I had no one to use it with. I’m now considering breaking out my old college textbook and reteaching myself, using italki for practice.

Hello!
Thank you for your useful review, I would be interested in purchasing the complete course but I have one question. Do you think it would be possible to access the same course I paid for from 2 different phones on the same account? With other courses this is possible, but in Rocket they don’t really specify how many devices you can connect.

Hi Giorgia.

I connect to my account from my PC, Android and wife’s iPhone without any issues.

Hi, Donovan!

Thanks so much for this review. I got started to know this product from your blog about 2 months ago. I’m studing Korean in Seoul, and already spent almost 2 years here. Upto this time I have purchased for Japanese, Korean and French. I also tried Glossika and I found both of them are very effective.

And I have some question to ask
【Rocket Languages】
1) After I purchased Korean, one page came to recommand me for “the Rocket Spanish Travelogue series”. Does that mean there is no Travelogue series for Rocket Korean?

2) SInce you have tried the Travelogue series for other languages, except the difference which is written in the official webste, I would like to know what is difference from your experience. And is it also available on iOS app interface.

【Glossika】
My mother tongue is Chinese. When I learn other languages through Chinese, I just felt the translation is not so much good but acceptable. How do you think? And I also found a good thing that “Egympt Arabic” is available. I remembered you metioned only MSA was available there. And I would like to know whether that is good or not, if you have time to have it glance at it.

Thanks again for your excellent recommandation and tons of high quality posts.

I bought all three levels of Rocket Spanish on sale for $180. The program has some errors and kinks and is a bit clunky. But at that price, it is good value because it provides a huge amount of content in spite of its limitations. You get a good grounding (I am nearing the end of Level 1). To become fluent, you are going to need to practice with live people, but I think that is probably the case with most language software.

These reviews are very helpful to me. I’ve been searching for a good Urdu language app and am trying UrduPod101 (the free trial for $1, which currently gives me full access for a short time). I’m not sold on it yet, though. Rocket sounds even better, and while they don’t offer Urdu, they do offer Hindi, and I’m thinking of taking the Hindi course after talking with a Pakistani friend and reading this discussion on Quora. Religious and nationalistic posts aside in that discussion, I think that studying Hindi from someplace like Rocket rather than a substandard Urdu course is the way to go.

I’m currently studying Polish on Babbel and it’s an excellent course. I’m blasting my way though it on the Android app despite some minor bugs. I got an offer from Babbel for a year for $48 (it’s usually around $85) and had studied enough on the Duolingo free app to realize I was picking it up very quickly and that paying for it via Babbel would be worth it. It is so far and I’m having a ton of fun. I wake up thinking partly in Polish every morning!

Next up, Arabic, though that will probably have to wait six months or so until I really soak up more Polish and Hindi to not overwhelm myself with a third language too soon. Then on to Italian and Spanish (I speak high-school and some restaurant Spanish but it’s been a while). I’m mostly half Polish and half Italian and recall some of both languages from childhood, so maybe that’s why learning Polish seems kind of easy for me.

Thanks for all the great info on this site! The reviews in comments are very helpful too. :)

Do they use high frequency words when they teach you?

To what level of speaking will the three levels of Spanish take you?

Hard to answer because it really depends on your level of motivation and persistence but there is a lot of content in all 3 levels combined which as I’ve intimated elsewhere, will last you a long time.

Combine that with regular speaking practice (either in person or online) and you’ll reach a high level of fluency.

I’m trying to choose between Rocket Italian with Italianpod101.

Having completed a sample intermediate Rocket level, I would say that the audio lesson and related materials are comprehensive, challenging and interesting. It would be good to hear materials at a native speaker’s pace, which is, of course, how my Italian friends speak!

The really disappointing aspect for me is the Language and Culture section. I presume that the grammar material is supplemental, but there is insufficient attempt to ‘teach’ it in the effective interactive way you get on the audio lesson. I have grammar books that are far more effective.

I’ll try Italianpod tomorrow and come back with my thoughts - if I have the energy after all that hard work!

Let us know how you get on and what decision you make.

All the best!

Just to add to my above review of Rocket, I wanted to see if there was a syllabus or structure I could download or see. Had an online chat and the answer is ‘no’ though I was told what CEFR level the intermediate is aimed at B1.

Now to Italianpod101. Had a try this morning. It’s a huge resource, too much to get my head around. I couldn’t really find my level, so jumped between beginner and intermediate. The podcast language at Beginner level was not grammatically easy for me (I guess I’m at A2). The podcast was also at full speed at first, so even more tricky to access, although you can slow it down (very useful) and they do slow the audio when repeated in the lesson.

My big beef with the resource compared to Rocket, is that the learner is a pretty passive recipient with very little expectation of joining in the lesson, and so, as a learner who really needs to be encouraged (forced?) to be an active learner, it did not suit me too well.

So I’d give Rocket the thumbs up, it’s far from perfect and is much more expensive that the course book I have used (Progetto Italiano) which has audio & video as well as the clearly structured course material.

For me, nothing compares with a ‘live’ teacher as any teach yourself method is inevitable limiting, but as I live in a rural area, there is not a great deal of choice. I think I will continue with Progetto and maybe think about Rocket as a supplement.

Thank you for the review. On the strength of your fair assessment, I purchased the Japanese program over the Pimsleur one (which I had used and liked but it’s stodgy and did not advance my understanding of how the language is structured and used in everyday conversations). Rocket’s interactive features and improvements since your original review have given me motivation for learning Japanese. It covers the written language, too, which will be useful as my speaking skills develop, so the program is an investment, one that will be useful for learning many aspects of a new language.

Glad it helped.

All the best with your Japanese, Cynthia.

You’ve convinced me. I just purchased the Rocket Languages Italian course. They took my money. I was not instructed to set up a password. I cannot log on the begin the lessons. Their system to contact them to report a problem says it may take 2 days for a response! I’m not a happy customer.

To be fair, Rocket Languages responded the next day. Problem solved.

I just came from their site, looking for a review (great one her btw, thanks!).

Pricing is $100 for the first course, $250 for the first 2, and $260 for the first 3 (all), at least for the Italian ones. I will probably go for all 3.

I looked at rocket because I was not men on buying a subscription for another app. I expect to be leaving Italian for years, and it seems that rocket had the content to get you much further than most systems.

Also, I use a pimsleur audio course, but want some visibility of the words & to understand the rules. They are quite complex in Italian!

(that was supposed to be a reply to a price query above)

I just bought Rocket Arabic based on your review! Thanks, Donovan!

Donovan, thanks for your honest review of Rocket Language. It sounds like a good method, but I have a concern (nonnative speaker voices) and the 3 level format.

I am about A2 in German. I need to train my ear. Lv2 and 3 sound great for my needs.

Wouldn’t buying lv 1,2 and 3 (quite expensive) be a waste of money, since I probably already know all the lv 1 material?
Thanks.

I used to be a pretty advanced Spanish speaker, but lost the language over the years. My boyfriend wants to learn and is a beginner. We want to get a program we can work on together (a refresh for me and a start for him). The challenge is that he is dyslexic and therefore struggles with reading/writing-intensive learning. With that in mind, do you think Rocket would be better than Rosetta Stone? We plan on buying the full level package for whichever we choose. Thanks!

Emma B,

If in the US, go to your local library and get the Pimsleur level 1-5 Spanish for free (audio course). Otherwise, Rocket languages would be best...it’s affordable and it works! I think there’s a link on Donovan’s site.

Cheers:)

Difficult to say which would be better for someone with dyslexia but what I can say is that Rocket can be used as a purely audio tool if preferred and allows for more flexible learning styles. Literacy components are optional.

Rosetta Stone is much more limited in the way it’s used but its one advantage is its use of images and visual cues which may benefit dyslexic learners.

I definitely prefer Rocket myself but haven’t heard any feedback from dyslexic learners as of yet.

Hello there. I want to learn Arabic primarily to understand Quran. As I understand Rocket is good at teaching spoken Arabic whereas Rosetta Stone is good with spoken. I want to go ahead with Rosetta Stone but I’m not sure. Can you please advise me on this matter?

Many Thanks, Azhar

Neither Rocket nor Rosetta teach Classical (Quran) Arabic.

Rocket teaches Egyptian and Rosetta teaches Modern Standard. My advice would be to stick with a quality textbook instead (I mentioned some here: https://www.mezzoguild.com/learning-arabic-5-books-i-recommend/).

For the languages that have 3 levels, based on the CEFR scale, which level would you say they take you to?

Depends entirely on your own learning approach, attitude, motivation, etc.

I’d say B2 equivalent content.

They don’t have a level test? This is a huge disappointment.

Good review of Rocket Languages, I did one myself for the Chinese version. My 7 year old sister used it and really picked up Mandarin quickly, which is personally why I recommended it.

Awesome!

Thanks for the input, Ryan.

Hi Donovan,

Thanks for the review on Rocket Languages. I (for some unknown reason) have taken an interest in learning Italian and was looking for a good course.

Now, to switch topics...I read in your bio that you ‘have a passion for raising awareness of endangered minority languages.’ One that I believe would qualify is Haitian Creole. I have been studying HC sporadically for the past 13 years and have tried most of the few products that are out there. I can hold a beginner/intermediate conversation, but listening comprehension is very difficult.

Just curoius if you have any experience with this language? Thanks!

I wanted a challenge in life so I decided to study Arabic. Holy cow what was I thinking!!! :))). I first tried Pimsleur Egyptian Arabic and it was a very good product but only helped with speaking and understanding some core sentences which overall was not a bad deal. But, I like to learn all aspects of a language (reading & writing included). Then I came to this reviewed and decided to give it a go. I am thoroughly satisfy with my progress in Egyptian Arabic using Rocket Arabic (month so far). I figure once I’m done with the entire course in 6 months or so, I will be a B1. Why so long? I don’t go to the next lesson until I have 100% mastery of the content. Next step will be to get talkinarabic.com to improve at the intermediate/Advance level and talk to natives via italki. I use Assimil for European languages and will try Rocket French to see how it compares in the future. Donovan, thank you for inspiring me to tackle such a rewarding and difficulty language (according to me, I know you said it’s easy :).

So I have been wanting to do Spanish forever..it is on my bucket list...I am so confused by all the different providers out there. I struggle to sit in front of a computer for any period of time. So many reviews and each one is all over the board. Who do you recommend I go with. Who is the most mobile or app reliable. Feel free to email me if you dont want the answer to appear on the blog. Thanks Jojo

Hey what do you think as a comparison between Rocket Arabic and using TalkInArabic.com for learning Egyptian Arabic? I am am beginner trying to decide between the two resources. Is Rocket more comprehensive?

Thank you for for your review and honesty. Too often the reviewer seems to try and suck up to the company being reviewed rather than be honest in their comments.

My problem is I have tried to contact the company to ask some simple questions and have not been able do to do so. I left multiple messages on their phone machine over a course of the last 10 days but they will not contact me Back. If their customer service is this poor when they are trying to gain my business, how will it be once I am their client?

I am currently using the trial version of Rocket German and find it ok.
The only thing that irks me is the voice recognition software. I’ve tried it with all levels and it doesn’t seem to make any difference at all.
It was mentioned before I believe in this commentary that when you say something deliberately wrong it still can give you a 100% score which is a bit bogus.
I tried Rocket Spanish trial version a few years ago and found it good even though I don’t think it had VR back then.
I was thinking about buying the levels 1 and 2 combined (German) for a discounted price for around $150 USD but found their clickbank currency converter way off. It should have been around $205 AUS but came up with $238. Aus dollar was 0.73 US at the time. I tried it again with a different amount and you guessed it the same sort of calculation. Way off!

I had reported in October 2015 that the Rocket Languages upgrade was less than desirable. However I would like to now report that the major issues have been resolved and the system is better than ever. The Voice Recognition has been vastly improved and many of the other glitches have been resolved. The VR now has 3 levels (Easy, Medium and Hard) which can easily be altered at any time on any lesson. Fantastic improvement. There are also a number of other improvements coming down the line!

The assistance provided to me by Jason Oxenham (the CEO of Rocket Spanish) was excellent throughout this transition process.

I can once again happily say that Rocket Languages is a superior program.

I have used Rocket Spanish for 3 years and it was an outstanding and excellent program. Unfortunately it was “upgraded” on October 12, 2015 and it has been a huge disappointment. The audio and Voice Recognition do not work for me and there are innumerable other glitches. I have the appropriate browser that they recommended. My computer is new. There are no excuses for the failure of this new launch on my computer. I have submitted several emails outlining my concerns but the problems still persist. In viewing the forum board, it appears the problems are more widespread than Rocket Languages would have us to believe.

Rocket Languages has had a fabulous product over the years and I wish to stay with them, however the program is currently unusable for me. Once the glitches are fixed, I expect it will once again be one of the best Language tools out there.

Thanks for sharing, Karen.

I hadn’t heard any bad feedback yet about new edition of Rocket Languages but I suspect it’s probably just typical hiccups that any software has after a major update. If quite a few people have been reporting issues then they’ll probably (hopefully) be working on solutions for the glitches quickly.

Appreciate the feedback! Let me know if things improve or not.

I found your blog a few weeks ago and am so glad I did. I was also thrilled to find a fellow Queenslander writing it! After reading several of your posts & recommendations for Rocket Languages I decided to give the trial a go for spanish and after finishing the first lesson I bought it and have not regretted it. The best thing for me is the ability to download the audio files & pdfs. I haven’t gotten to do many of the activities so far but whenever I’m in the car I’m listening & responding to the lessons. I really like the way they’ve structured the audio with the english speaker and I’m looking forward to seeing how new voice recognition goes with my pronunciation.
Also, thanks to your posts about italki and not being afraid to speak I have now had several conversations with native speakers from Latin America on skype. I had been kind of scared being a bit shy and introverted but your straight forward, Aussie attitude was just what I needed to push me out of my comfort zone. So, thanks.

Awesome, Helen!

Glad you found me. Thanks for sharing :)

All the best with your Spanish.

Donovan, thank you for this updated review. I’ve had Rocket Italian for awhile and it just never grabbed me. Looks like I need to take a second look.

Thanks. I’d be curious to hear what your thoughts are on it.

I am using the Spanish program and am currently doing the Premium Plus Level 2. There are three speakers two are from Chile and one is from the US who does most of the English parts but also speaks Spanish.

I have found them quite good, I enjoy the different lessons and since I purchased it, there have been several upgrades which I have received for nothing.

I have contacted them a few times with questions or errors and have always received an answer within a day or so. There is also a Forum to ask questions or make comments.

The latest upgrade I am using is the Play It section where you speak one of the parts in the story and they blank out more and more words so you have to remember them in Spanish.

I agree the Games are not very good but I like everything else and feel it was good value. I am moving on to Premium Plus Level 3 shortly.

Thanks for your feedback, Morell.

From the Spanish sample I can tell the Chilean person is clearly a native speaker and his pronunciation seems pretty adequate for such course; the US speaker who explains everything is easy to understand, but she has a clear American accent that wouldn’t pass for a native speaker for a second: her vowels are slightly odd at times, her plosives are exaggerated and she pronounces some diphthongs as two syllables, just to name a few things. I wouldn’t say she speaks too bad, but I wouldn’t learn how to pronounce Spanish from her if you really aim to sound without too much of an accent. I have heard foreigners who still didn’t sound exactly like a native, but spoke in a much more natural way and using fewer or no “foreign sounds”. If a friend taught me a language for free admitting that her accent is not perfect, fair enough, but I expect a little more when I pay for a product. I think they should have restricted the dialogues to native speakers only.

I see you mentioned the program costing just under $100. I’m checking out the site now as I want to buy the program and there are 3 prices depending on the ‘level’ of French you wish to achieve. The cheapest one is $90 and the most expensive is $250.
I’m assuming you’re referring to the ‘level 1’ package in your review because of the price. Would you recommend forking out the extra $150+ for the highest level or do you still think that the first level is sufficient?
Thanks for any help!

The two higher levels of Rocket Languages are (in my opinion), where all the best dialogue content is.

So yeah, I’d spend the extra myself.

For me, it is a bit discouraging to see that it teaches only Egyptian Arabic. It’s OK if you want to live in Egypt, but if your interests are more general or literary, then Modern Standard Arabic is more useful.

Modern Standard Arabic is a bit like Received Pronunciation of British English. It would be better to use speakers with natural prestige-pronunciation in British English, likewise Standard American using someone speaking naturally (which is easy, because they are in the majority—there is nothing corresponding to British RP), with, say, with a pronunciation similar to mainstream news anchors and the like.

Egyptian Arabic comes the closest to ‘prestige’, or at least unmarked pronunciation.

I agree with the author, Rocket Languages is choosing the least worst option in a linquistically non-ideal world.

I’m always a little saddened when I check out a new (to me) language site and there are no people shown (Mango Languages is the biggest offender so far). I spent a few years learning Chinese through podcasts, but I came away feeling like I’d only been training my listening comprehension — which is important. But in terms of actually acquiring the language, we always learn so much faster from other people. Being able to see lips move and form words is just vital, at least to me.

Still, I’m always looking for new ways to up my game and there’s some good stuff here. Thanks very much for the review!

Do you or anyone reading this know how good their Portuguese (EP or Brazilian) program is?

Some people can also use rocket languages free through a library at home .

I’m the same diana as above I just wanted to add more.

Like I mentioned above I got rocket languages free through my local library , but I was reluctant to use it .To the outsider rocket language does look gimmicky. Its design doesn’t look like it’s been updated in the past 10 years,and its not the most organized, but I will give it another try thanks to this review.

Thanks for this review. It’s rare to read honest reviews of Rocket Languages indeed.

I reviewed it and found the product to be ok. But what really turned me off is the feeling that there is no one behind the company. I contacted them several times and never got a reply and it feels like their only purpose is to make money, and not to help people learn languages. I may be wrong though, but this is how it looks to me.

The French version is pretty good, but the quality of the audio didn’t convince me, one of the voice had a very British accent.

So even though I like Rocket French, I would have a hard time recommending it because it feels like the team behind it doesn’t really care about the product.

Thanks for your input.

It’s good to hear from someone who’s tried a different language version out. The non-native accent is a bit concerning for sure but thankfully it isn’t true for the Arabic edition.

I noticed you didn’t mention the company aspect in your review. I actually found them to be quite persistent when contacting me.

Hi Donovan,

Thanks for your honestly in relation to Arabic language resources. Which is the best and most widely used Arabic dialect used? Since about 2011I I have tried to learn Arabic very on and off. The Arabic alphabet is very is quite, but I don’t give up on it completly. Some f riends of mine are oginally from Egept (sorry can’t think in English today!) and they are willing to practice a bit of Arabic with me, therefore I am wondering if that is very different from Morrocan Arabic? Shukran

Benjamin, just as there is no ‘British’ nation so there is no ‘British’ accent in the sense of one standing for all the others. If you mean English - and you do - at least have the courtesy to say so and give us our right name, as you would undoubtedly in referring to Scots or Welsh [both equally ‘British’ nations]. Thanks.

I couldn’t agree more. I bought the French program which helped enormously because I needed to brush up for a trip to Paris in 2017.

From that time, I came back to California and decided to retackle Spanish. It was pretty much down hill from there.

I purchased another program; sent in more money and nothing worked with any consistency. I sent email after email.

The program kept turning down my password; I’d change my password.... more emails... more apologies

Finally, I was out of cope. Asked for a complete refund and guess what?

They return email states ,”Too much time has elapsed.” Lovely

Caveat Emptor!!!!!

I expected your review to be a savage taking down of Rocket Languages. I know them only from the spam videos all over youtube that sell/link to their product by fraudulently titling the videos with all sort of language learning issue catchphrases.
I have no experience with the product you’ve reviewed, but before reading it I had -80% confidence in them as a learning materials outfit. Now I’d have maybe -20%.

That’s precisely why I highlighted the abuse by affiliate marketers (idiots who make those kinds of spammy videos which I hate as much as you do).

They’ve done a good job at wrecking that company’s reputation.