Mastering New Languages: A Comprehensive Rocket Languages Review for 2024

I’m a bit of a book nerd. When I’m learning languages, I like my hard copy paper, pen and notebook. For me, the integrated practices of not only reading and listening, but the muscle memory of writing new vocab helps to ground the language in me.

But a lot of people like the convenience of learning languages online.

So I asked myself: I wonder if I can find a package that is a complete language study course online? The answer was a resounding “Yes!” In this Rocket Languages review, I’ll tell you all about it.

Rocket Languages is the most holistic online language learning platform I have found, including:

• reading, writing, listening and speaking activities
• language recognition AI to help with your pronunciation
• offline access
• downloadable pdf’s and mp3’s
• vocabulary flashcard decks with each lesson.

If you are looking for a ‘one-stop-shop’ for your language learning resources, and are independently motivated, Rocket Languages could well be the product you are looking for.

What Is Rocket Languages? A Brief Review

Rocket Languages was created as a complete language study course online. The company was founded in 2004 by Jason Oxenham and Mark Ling, and as of 2023, it has garnered a user base of over 2 million individuals. This platform offers a comprehensive online language-learning experience tailored to different learning styles and preferences.

Rocket Languages is an online language learning platform with accompanying apps. The page shown here is the one for the Spanish course.

It takes an approach similar to many book + CD language learning kits, teaching useful language and conversations straight up, but also takes advantage of the interactivity that the web can provide.

Rocket Languages claims to differentiate itself from other language learning programs by offering a holistic online language learning platform that includes reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities.

The platform aims to take learners to the heart of the language by providing a comprehensive understanding of language and culture.

In addition to the core activities, Rocket Languages features language recognition AI to assist with pronunciation and offers downloadable pdfs, mp3s, and flashcard decks for offline use, ensuring learners have access to materials at all times.

This comprehensive approach caters to various learning preferences and styles, providing a well-rounded language learning experience for all users.

Unlike some other platforms, Rocket Languages is NOT immersive.

There is plenty of explanation in English, particularly in the earlier lessons. (Depending on your learning preferences, you may consider this a strength or a weakeness of the product 🙂 )

However, the pronunciation audios are of native speakers, and in the conversations the speakers interact at a reasonable speed.

How Does Rocket Languages Work?

Rocket Languages utilizes a multifaceted approach to language learning that is designed to cater to various aspects of a language, including speaking, listening, reading, and understanding cultural contexts.

The methodology is crafted to offer a comprehensive learning experience, which can be broken down into several key components:

1. Interactive Audio Lessons: The core of Rocket Languages’ teaching method involves audio lessons that focus on practical conversations. These lessons aim to improve conversational skills, teaching grammar and vocabulary in the context of real-life situations.
2. Voice Recognition: To perfect pronunciation, Rocket Languages incorporates voice recognition technology, allowing learners to compare their pronunciation to that of native speakers .
3. Practical Exercises: After audio lessons, learners engage in interactive exercises designed to reinforce the material covered. These include flashcards, writing exercises, and speaking practices that simulate real conversations. The exercises are repetitive to ensure retention and gradual increase in difficulty, making sure learners are ready for more advanced content as they progress.
4. Chunking Approach: Particularly noted in the Rocket French review, the platform employs a “chunking” approach to learning, breaking down content into smaller, manageable parts for easier absorption and recall. This method is especially beneficial for beginners and intermediate learners, making complex information more digestible.
5. Cultural Lessons: Beyond just language mechanics, Rocket Languages integrates cultural insights into its courses. This includes not only the language’s grammatical structure and vocabulary but also cultural norms and practices relevant to the language being learned.
6. Motivational Tools: To keep learners engaged and motivated, Rocket Languages provides motivational tools and techniques, including progress tracking, badges, and a leaderboard for a gamified learning experience .
7. Lifetime Access and Flexibility: One unique aspect of Rocket Languages is the lifetime access to purchased courses, allowing learners to revisit material anytime. This is coupled with the flexibility to skip repetitive exercises, catering to various learning preferences.

How To Use Rocket Languages

The Rocket Languages online course follows a structured and interactive approach to language learning.

1. Dashboard: Upon logging in, users are directed to their dashboard, which serves as the central hub for accessing various tools and activities for language learning.
2. Let’s Get Started!: Each lesson starts with an audio of around 15 minutes, including a written transcription.
3. Role Playing: This section encourages users to engage in role-playing activities to practice having conversations in their target language. Users can choose to play as different characters and interact in various scenarios, helping to simulate real-world conversations.
4. Lesson Vocabulary: Users can practice additional words and phrases that aren’t covered in the main conversation. This section aids in perfecting pronunciation and expanding vocabulary beyond the immediate context of the audio lesson.
5. Flashcards, Listening, Speaking, Quiz: These sections offer additional practice and reinforcement of the lesson content through different learning modalities, including flashcards for vocabulary review, listening exercises, speaking practice, and quizzes to test comprehension.

Extra Resources

Tools

The Tools page on the Rocket Languages platform further supplements the language learning experience in several ways:

1. Motivation and Engagement: The Leaderboard provides users with a sense of competition and achievement by allowing them to see their position relative to other learners. This gamification aspect can increase motivation and engagement with the course material as users strive to earn more points and improve their ranking.
2. Progress Tracking: Users can track their progress over time through points earned and streaks maintained. This feature allows learners to see their daily and overall accomplishments, providing a visual representation of their language learning journey.
3. Community Interaction: By seeing other users’ positions on the Leaderboard, learners can feel part of a community of fellow language enthusiasts. There is also a forum for each language. This sense of community can foster interaction, support, and camaraderie among learners as they work towards their language learning goals together.
4. Goal Setting: The Points History section allows users to track their daily points and set goals for themselves based on their performance. This feature enables learners to establish targets and benchmarks, which can help maintain consistency and focus in their language learning efforts.
5. Benchmarking Progress: The Leaderboard also serves as a benchmark for users to gauge their progress not only against themselves but also against other learners. This comparative aspect can provide valuable feedback on one’s proficiency level and highlight areas for improvement.

Free Articles

On the website page for each language, at the bottom are often free language explanation blog posts, written by language teachers.

Script Practice

In the languages that use scripts other than the Latin alphabet, there are extra sections.

The ‘Composing’ and ‘Writing’ sections provide opportunities for users to practice, for example, learning writing in Cyrillic script and compose sentences or paragraphs in Russian, reinforcing writing skills alongside speaking and listening abilities.

Is There A Rocket Language App?

Rocket Language Podcasts

What Languages Does Rocket Languages Offer?

The following languages are available with Rocket Languages:

Arabic	American Sign Language	MandarinChinese	French
German	Hindi	Italian	Japanese
Korean	Portuguese	Russian	Spanish (Latin American)
English (in English)	Inglés (English from Spanish)

The various languages also come with different levels. French, Italian and Spanish all come with Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels, as well as additional material at an advanced level; Japanese, German and Chinese have three levels, but no additional material; the other languages come with just one or two levels.

One rare feature provided by Rocket Languages is the inclusion of American Sign Language (ASL) lessons, which is not commonly found in online language learning platforms.

You can view the most up to date information about languages and levels offered on the Rocket Languages Course Information page (linked from the page footer menu).

How Much Does Rocket Languages Cost?

Rocket Languages normally sells each language course and level separately, and with different product prices for 1, 2 or 3 levels. The investment gives you a lifetime access to that product.

At the time of writing, the prices are:

Level 1:	US$149.95
Levels 1 & 2:	US$299.90
Levels 1, 2 & 3:	US$449.85

There are also often sales of up to 40%, so make sure you check on their page for current deals.

Payment plans are also available, normally costing US$75/month over 6 months for a Level 1,2&3 language course. Check the faqs at the bottom of individual language course information pages to find the payment plan link for your language.

Can You Become Fluent With Rocket Languages?

Rocket Languages states their goal is to achieve ‘conversational fluency’ for users, emphasizing the ability to listen, understand, and respond with reasonable pronunciation in your target language.

The program aims to help individuals communicate effectively in the community, enabling them to engage in conversations whenever and wherever they want.

While not preparing users for a C2 Proficiency Exam, the materials that I reviewed in the Advanced level suggest a language proficiency level around B2, which is considered a working level proficiency.

Of course, even with the voice recognition and speaking tasks, real conversational fluency will only come with real conversation practice.

By focusing on practical communication skills and real-world language use, Rocket Languages aims to equip users with the ability to interact confidently in native language environments.

Is Rocket Languages Any Good?

Rocket Languages online courses excel in providing practical skills and exposure to the target language, as highlighted in numerous Rocket Languages reviews from satisfied learners.

They boast an impressive average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars!

Rocket Languages offers a highly structured course with ample opportunities for repetition, making it a likely effective choice for learners seeking a comprehensive language learning experience.

The program offers a comprehensive package that covers all aspects of language learning, from reading and writing to listening and speaking.

The interactive exercises in Rocket Languages program cater to a diverse range of language learners by offering a comprehensive set of tools for practice.

These exercises, including flashcards, Hear It! Say It!, Write It!, Know It!, and quizzes, are strategically designed to enhance language proficiency.

The incorporation of translation, pronunciation, listening, typing, and vocabulary retention exercises ensures a well-rounded learning experience.

Also, the program’s approach to gradually increasing the difficulty of exercises as learners progress through levels ensures a solid foundation for future lessons while reinforcing previously acquired knowledge.

Learners also benefit from the flexibility to revisit lessons as many times as needed for review or reinforcement, solidifying their understanding of the material.

While the course provides a structured approach to language learning, it also offers insights into the cultural aspects related to the target language, enhancing the overall learning experience

Information about the relevant cultures is seamlessly integrated throughout the lessons, particularly evident in the engaging travelogs that provide cultural context.

However, for individuals who have previously pursued language learning independently or have a more advanced level of proficiency, they may find the program somewhat restrictive in comparison.

Whether a language program is any good or not lies heavily on the individual’s preferences.

From a personal perspective, as a beginner in Spanish, I found the course to be somewhat repetitive, but it provided a solid foundation for my language journey.

On the other hand, the Russian course presented a welcome challenge that kept me engaged and motivated.

With over 3000 users giving Rocket Languages a glowing 5-star review, it’s evident that the program resonates with many learners.

Nevertheless, as someone who likes to (hand)write the language as I learn, typing doesn’t quite suit my learning style. I need the kinaesthetic experience of writing the letter combinations, especially with new writing scripts, to really learn.

For this reason, I am inclined to download the pdf files and write things in manually. However, I haven’t worked out yet if then I also need to go through the lessons online to check if I had the correct answers.

While Rocket Languages offers a structured and comprehensive approach to language learning, it is essential to manage expectations.

The program excels in providing practical skills and exposure to the target language but may not delve deeply into the intricate mechanics of language. Ultimately, the effectiveness of Rocket Languages in fulfilling its promises hinges on individual learning styles and goals.

Is Rocket Languages Worth It?

No monthly fees. Just one payment and you’re done.

In comparison with attending language schools (typically 8-12 weeks of 2.5 hour classes, for a total of around 25 hours contact time, often costing $300), Rocket Languages are much cheaper.

Likewise, if you compare a Rocket Languages course with the cost of purchasing separate resources, none of which are designed to go together:

• a text (beginner to A2) (around US$40),
• auditory input program (US$120/year),
• free flashcard app,

it very quickly becomes apparent that the lifetime access Rocket Languages courses are quite reasonably priced, and in some cases will take the learner to quite a high standard of language.

Rocket Languages Review: Conclusion

This Rocket Languages review shows that Rocket Languages have positioned themselves as a legitimate competitor of language schools, with the added benefits that you can learn at the time that suits you, at a speed that is right for you, and do not need to waste time travelling to the classes.

The most basic courses will provide a significant introduction to the language, and the more advanced ones contain sufficient material to bring the learner to a conversational level, sufficient for operating comfortably in the community.

If you are looking for a highly gamefied environment that will keep you motivated with pretty pictures, this is not the product for you. There are gamified components, but the product is much more substantial than a language learning game. It is lean and sleek, and gets straight to the point.

Likewise, if you like to learn in a group environment like a class, or have instant feedback from a teacher, then this is not a good solution. The forums can provide some group interaction, but they are not the same as a live class.

But if you are independently motivated, and have a desire to learn a language to a conversational level, and want to get most of your learning in one place, Rocket Languages could well be the product you are looking for.

Join the more than 2 million people who are already learning a new language with Rocket Languages award-winning courses!

Not looking for a full online course, just a language learning app for your phone? Check out our Babbel Review!