Rocket Chinese Review: Learn Chinese

This Review Covers the Rocket Chinese™
Language Learning Course...

Deciding to learn the Chinese language is an exciting experience to undertake. The language is so different from any other, that you have to be certain that the course you choose is up to the task. But how can you be sure you are selecting the right course for you? We put up this site in an effort to share our experience with anybody that is wanting to learn to speak Chinese.
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The Rocket Chinese Website

The program I have reviewed is Rocket Chinese™ which is produced by a company named Rocket Language Ltd. The package was written by Lin Ping, who is a native Chinese. The company has an outstanding reputation for producing high quality language learning courses which include French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and Chinese, as well as the American Sign Language.

The first module contains 31 audio tracks that will have you speaking some basic words after your first listen. The course instructs conversational Chinese which means you will be able to converse with native Chinese speakers in your travels. You will feel comfortable ordering in restaurants, asking for directions etc.

The package includes the actual transcripts of the audios and I found that particularly helpful in following along. Each audio is about 25 minutes long which means the full module is about 14 hours of content. The methods used within this content will allow you to absorb and speak Chinese quickly. Fourteen hours seems like a lot I know, but with the use of the audio tracks the time goes by very quickly and effortlessly.

The program also includes software that makes learning very easy, and more importantly, it is fun. The first software application is what they call MegaVocab™.

This is a software containing a vocabulary recognition tool. I found this extremely helpful in the beginning of my studies. You basically run through a series of words and you learn the words through repetition, and an association with a picture. It's sort of like the flashcards you used to learn with when you were a kid.

The software has 1000 words and pictures built into it, but it also allows you to add more words and pictures of your choice as you advance through the course.

screenshot of the actual software

screenshot of the actual software

Once I started to learn the vocabulary I went on to the MegaAudio™ software. This phase of the course is where I started to feel confident that I was definitely on the right track..

The software provides exercises that test and improve your recognition of the spoken words. The system provides a score with each exercise so you always have a unit of measure for your progress.

I found this software to be a lot of fun to use. It is one thing to learn the vocabulary, but to understand it when spoken is another. In my opinion this is where other programs fall short, and where Rocket Chinese excels.

Another very cool aspect of the Rocket Chinese™ program was that is isn't just an introductory course. The course is designed with the assumption that the student has no background in the language when starting. But it continues to an advanced level as well. I felt like this increased the value of the program because I wouldn't have to go out and buy a more advanced course as I progressed.

Possibly the most impressive part of this course is the members only forum where you can ask questions and communicate with other students and the Rocket Language online instructors. To me, this forum made the cost of this course a real bargain. If you happen to get stuck on something, you find lots of help in the forum.

I had a hard time even finding a Chinese course that I felt was worth my investment of time and money. But the cost of this course was the real surprise. The folks at Rocket Language offer the complete course as an easy download. By selecting this option I was able to purchase the course for about one hundred dollars. They also offer the course on a set of CD's, but that comes at a price of about three hundred dollars. I was happy with the downloaded version as I simply burned the material to CD's and was able to listen in my car and I even loaded some of the audio tracks onto my ipod. But of course I used my computer to take most of the course.

I also liked the fact that the Rocket Language company was backing up their product with a 60 day guarantee. This made me feel very comfortable with my decision. When taking into consideration the quality of the material presented in the course, the methods used to teach the material, the software that is included and the support offered in the members only forum, it is very easy for me to highly recommend this course.

I award the Rocket Chinese™ program my highest rating of 5 stars. If you are wanting to learn Chinese, then in my opinion you owe it to yourself to check out this Rocket Language program.

Good luck with your new challenge!

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Our Rating 5/5