Rocket Spanish is one of Rocket Language’s most popular courses. But does it live up to the hype and is it worth the slightly higher price tag?
This expert review will guide you through everything you need to know about the Rocket Spanish course, so you can make a decision as to whether it’s the course for you. We’ve included snapshots of what to expect from the course, how to get your hands on one of Rocket Language’s discounts and a comparison of its main competitors. Plus, what's in store from its 2020 revamp.
What is Rocket Spanish?
Rocket Spanish is a course created by Rocket Languages. It’s a desktop and app-based online learning platform that uses a traditional teaching approach to develop your Spanish skills from beginner to advanced. Using a thorough curriculum and step-by-step lesson approach, you’ll be learning all about the ins and outs of the Spanish language, grammar and culture.
Rocket Spanish focuses on Latin American Spanish rather than the Spanish spoken in mainland Spain.
The difference between Latin American Spanish and Spanish in Spain is minimal, and you won't notice too much of a difference. You'll still be able to converse with natives from Spain or any other Spanish-speaking countries.
What can you do on Rocket Spanish?
Rocket Languages breaks down its Spanish course into three different difficulty levels (1, 2 and 3). Within these levels are around seven different topic-specific modules, and within these modules, there is a selection of different lessons to choose from.
In Rocket Spanish you’ll find three types of lessons that cover speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Rocket Languages has designed a points system, so you can keep track of your profress.
You can use the progress dashboard to monitor your activity for the day, check out your position on the leaderboard and check your streak status.
Interactive Audio Lessons
The interactive audio lessons sit at the core of the Rocket Spanish course. Each level features around 30 audio-heavy lessons, that last 20 to 30 minutes.
Each lesson follows a similar structure. First, you’ll be asked to listen to a conversation in Spanish, which will be based around a specific topic. This might be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 40 minutes. You’ll then be given the English translation for the topic, and asked to repeat the Spanish phrases out loud.
Rocket Spanish features plenty of grammar and vocabulary tips throughout the lesson, so look out for these boxes as you go too.
Once you’ve finished with the audio part of the lesson, you’ll be invited to try out a series of reinforcements tasks that reiterate any language, grammar and vocabulary that you’ve learnt in the lesson.
You can also take advantage of the ‘Action Replay' section for a quick summary of the lesson you've just completed.
Language and Cultural Lessons
On each level on Rocket Spanish, you’ll also find an additional 60 hours of Language and Culture Lessons. Unlike the audio lessons, these focus more on the grammar you need to know to really master the Spanish language.
This is really useful for anyone learning Spanish who is hoping to become as close to fluent as possible.
The lessons are incredibly detailed, and there’s a lot of text to get through. The information is very useful though, so give it a go if you can.
As for the cultural side of these lessons, Rocket Spanish throws in a few insights into the Latin American culture. These are pretty short as far as lessons go, but they do add a bit of something different into the lesson.
Survival Kit Lessons
Lessons is probably a loose term for this section on Rocket Spanish, as it's mainly self-taught.
Each of the Survival Kit lessons consists of a bunch of related vocabulary that you’re able to listen to, speak and learn all on your own accord.
A few topics you’ll find here include; A Feast of Spanish, All the Colours of the Rainbow, and All About Life in the City.
This isn’t a great feature of Rocket Spanish and we’d recommend using a different platform like Memrise to learn extra bits of Spanish vocabulary.
Travelogue
The Travelogue on Rocket Spanish is a useful feature for those who will soon be holidaying in a Spanish-speaking country.
It acts as a kind of intensive course for those who need a basic understanding of Spanish.
The series follows a couple who are heading off to Mexico on holiday. You’ll follow them on their journey as they arrive at the airport, and as they check into their hotel at Playa Del Carmen.
Each lesson starts with an audio clip in both English and Spanish, and is followed by a series of reinforcement games that break down the text into manageable chunks.
As you navigate through the different chapters of the Travelogue, you’ll find yourself immersed in the Spanish speaking countries of Bolivia, Costa Rica, Peru and more.
What other features does Rocket Spanish have?
Testing and Reinforcement
As you scroll through each lesson, you’ll find a series of testing and reinforcement tasks that are designed to help the Spanish that you’ve just learnt stick around in your mind for a little longer.
These include:
- FlashCards to help reinforce any new Spanish vocabulary from the lesson.
- Hear It! Say It! This helps develop your speaking skills by listening to a Spanish word or phrase and then repeating it. Clever speech-recognition software records your voice and gives you a pronunciation score for your Spanish out of 100.
- Know It! To improve your translation skills from English into Spanish by speaking the phrase or word out loud.
- Quiz. A short quiz of five questions to helps you to test yourself on the Spanish that you’ve learnt in today’s lesson.
- Write It! Practice and master how to use Spanish accented characters.
Voice Recognition
A great feature that works well most of the time is the voice recognition technology, that allows you to practice your pronunciation of those tricky Spanish words.
This works by giving you a score out of 100 depending on how well you’ve repeated the word. You can change the difficulty of this using the settings on the side panel.
This type of speech recognition technology has received mixed reviews, with lots of users reporting faulty scores. I gave it a go and it seemed okay, though not particularly helpful in telling you exactly where you’ve gone wrong with your pronunciation. I'd recommend using it with caution.
Advanced Learning Technique Articles
A handy feature for those who really want to get into learning a language, and doing it fast, are the Advanced Learning Technique articles. Each course has 25 of these, and they’ll equip you with plenty of tips and tricks to help you learn as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
Learning Support
Premium users will gain access to round the clock support from a community of language teachers, native speakers, and fellow learners, who will be there to answer any questions that might crop up along the way.
What does Rocket Spanish look like?
Rocket Spanish can be used either on your desktop computer or as an app on your phone. Both interfaces have a very simple design and are relatively easy to navigate.
When you log in, you’ll see your dashboard in front of you. The side menu on the left will allow you to navigate your way through the platform with ease. The handy bar across the top will show you where you are in the leaderboard as well as your current point score.
Who is Rocket Spanish best for?
Rocket Spanish works really well for absolute beginners who want to get a good grasp of the language. For this, you’ll want to start with Rocket Spanish Level 1.
If you already have some knowledge of Spanish, then you’re probably better off starting at Level 2, or even Level 3 if you’ve got a good lot of language knowledge behind you.
How much does Rocket Spanish cost?
Strictly speaking, each language level on Rocket Spanish will cost $149.95 for lifetime access. You can buy level 1 and 2 of the same language for $299.90 or levels 1,2 and 3 for $449.85.
It’s pretty rare that you’ll actually need to pay full price for the platform as there is always an offer or discount of some kind going on, especially when you first sign-up.
Using the ‘ROCKETDEAL’ code at checkout normally rewards you with some kind of discount. If not, the ‘BLACKFRIDAY’ code has been known to work at odd times throughout the year.
Remember you can try a limited version of the platform for free before you commit to membership.
You’ll also be given 60 days after you purchase a level to decide if you like it or not. If you do decide it’s not for you within this time, then you’ll get your money back, no questions asked.
What are the pros and cons of Rocket Spanish?
Pros:
- Simple interface that is easy to navigate.
- Lots of cultural and grammar insights dotted throughout the lessons.
- You can try out all three levels of Rocket Spanish to see which suits your abilities before committing to paying.
- A one-off payment will give you access to Rocket Spanish for life.
- There are plenty of opportunities to practice your Spanish speaking skills.
Cons:
- An expensive initial payment.
- Possibly too much English used and a lack of immersion into Spanish.
- Content and exercises can get repetitive.
- Emails and offers galore to try and hook you in can get tiring.
Are there any Rocket Spanish alternatives?
Rocket Spanish vs Rosetta Stone
Rocket Spanish and Rosetta Stone share a similar approach to teaching Spanish: a methodical and structured program of varied lessons to guide your way to an advanced level. They also both sit in the higher price bracket for language platforms.
The main difference between the two platforms is that Rosetta Stone uses the immersion technique, whereas Rocket Spanish teaches mainly in the native tongue.
You can check out our comprehensive review on Rosetta Stone to find out more information.
Rocket Spanish vs Pimsleur
Pimsleur and Rocket Spanish are very similar online learning platforms, offering comprehensive lessons from beginner level to advanced. While Pimsleur is quite a lot more expensive than Rocket Spanish, the platform is much better at helping you to develop your Spanish speaking skills.
We’ve taken a closer look at what Pimsleur offers you in this detailed review.
Rocket Spanish vs Duolingo
Duolingo is quite different from Rocket Spanish in that it offers up a far more fun, engaging and interactive way of learning Spanish. While it may not be as comprehensive and detailed as Rocket Spanish, it’s a great free, alternative.
Both offer up quite different learning methods, and I’d probably recommend using the two side by side to complement each other. Our review will tell you a little more about what Duolingo is.
Rocket Spanish vs LanguagesPod101
Like Rocket Spanish, LangaugePod101 puts a heavy emphasis on audio and visual learning, encouraging the user to say phrases out loud in Spanish regularly.
Price is the main difference between the platforms. While Rocket Spanish asks for just a one-off payment, LanguagePod101 requires a monthly subscription fee to access all of the material. In theory, LanguagePod1011 is cheaper, but it can add up after a while and the platform is definitely of a lower quality than Rocket Spanish.
Our final thoughts on Rocket Spanish
There’s no doubt that Rocket Spanish is an effective tool for learning the language. It covers everything that you need to master a language including speech practice, intricate grammar exercises and opportunities for writing.
Where it puts some people off is with its larger-than-normal price tag. However, for lifetime access, this fee doesn’t work out too badly, especially if you’re committed to mastering the Spanish language.
It’s also lacking in its creativity somewhat. If you do enjoy learning languages in a structured way then Rocket Spanish would be perfect. If you require a little more stimulation and excitement, we’d probably recommend looking into Babbel.
Which other languages can you learn on Rocket Languages?
Other than Rocket Spanish, Rocket Languages offers up a whole host of other languages to learn, some courses of which are better than others.
Here’s the extent of their courses so far:
- Rocket Italian
- Rocket French
- Rocket Japanese
- Rocket German
- Rocket Chinese
- Rocket Russian
- Rocket Portuguese
- Rocket Korean
- Rocket Ingles
- Rocket Korean
- Rocket Hindi
- Rocket English
- Rocket Arabic
- Rocket American Sign Language