Rocket Chinese Review – Can You Learn Chinese Fast With This Course ?

This Rocket Chinese review article will discuss how easy it is to learn Mandarin Chinese using this course and what level it can take you to. It will cover the main problem for English speakers learning a language like Chinese. It will also detail what you get in the Rocket Chinese course and how it helps you learn the language. Finally it rates the product and suggests who it would be most suited to.

For native English speakers, learning Chinese is often perceived as being extremely difficult. For instance, it uses completely different characters or alphabet. Whereas you can relate your English language skills when learning a romantic language like French because there are many similarities, this is not the case with Chinese. The same could said for the grammar of Chinese which is very different to English. In fact it’s a completely new challenge for an English speaker and this can be quite intimidating for some.

However it doesn’t have to be this way provided you set achievable objectives and learn the language in manageable chunks. In short, don’t get overwhelmed. Learning a language is hard but possible. Having the right attitude and using the best tools will help you reach your goal.

So as far as the best tools are concerned, how does Rocket Chinese stack up ?

Rocket Chinese is a self study course. It teaches you to speak Mandarin Chinese, comprehend, read and write Pinyin (and Hanzi to some extent). As it is a self study course, you have the flexibility to learn Chinese anywhere and at anytime. Whilst this is a great feature of the course, the obligation when using such a course is to have a good amount of self discipline so that you actually use it often enough to make real progress. Rocket Chinese is a good course but it won’t help you learn Chinese if you don’t use it.

When you buy Rocket Chinese you are given a login id for what is called the learning lounge. This is basically the hub of the Rocket Languages program. From the learning lounge you can access all the lessons, tests and audio visual materials. You can also download the various games.

What’s in Rocket Chinese ?

31 audio/mp3 lessons. For me these are the most important parts of the course. They teach you comprehension or listening skills. They teach you how to speak Chinese. It will give you the confidence to speak to real Chinese people. This is the point of learning a new language and the most enjoyable aspect of being able to speak a foreign language.

The 31 audio lessons deal with the absolute basics in the first lessons and cover advanced topics as they progress. These topics involve everyday activities that might go on in current Chinese society. There are also lessons on cultural aspects of modern Chinese society.

The lessons average around 20-30 minutes and consist of a native English speaking host or narrator, Dave Lewis and a native Chinese speaking co-host, Lin Ping. Dave is generally the first to speak on each lesson. He introduces the topic of the lesson, asks questions throughout and recaps or summarizes the lesson at the end. Lin does most of the Chinese speaking but also speaks English. You are advised to repeat sentences and words aloud after her. If a question is asked, there will be a pause, which allows you to speak out the answer aloud, then Lin will give the correct answer.

The second component is a written guide that follows along with the audio lessons. This deals with Chinese grammar, the Chinese writing system and many cultural aspects of Chinese society. It formalizes much of the detail that is covered in the audio lessons. There are also audio and video embedded into the guide to illustrate points.

The third component is the Rocket Mega games. You actually download these to your desktop and can play them whenever you like.

They include Mega Audio which is a game where you hear a word spoken and try to match a one of 6 pictures to the word. You get asked 25 questions on a set topic and there are plenty of topics ranging from colors, foods to activities.

The other game is Mega Vocab. Here you see a picture and have to match one of 4 words, written in Pinyin script. Again, there are 25 questions and many topics to play with.

Through out the audio and written guide, whenever Chinese is written down, it takes two forms. The Pinyin form is Chinese written using the Latin alphabet. This is the most accessible to western language students as it uses symbols that the student is familiar with. The other form is Chinese symbols known as Hanzi.

Learning Hanzi is probably one of the harder skills to acquire when learning Chinese. There are some introductory videos on how to write these symbols in the written guide. Learning to write Hanzi is not something you want to worry about initially. Focus on learning to speak the language first. Learn Pinyin, which is accepted throughout the Mandarin speaking world (and the United Nations).

There is many multiple choice tests that can be taken at any point in the course. This is an effective way to see if you are making progress. Seeing progress can help to motivate you and keep you going with the course.

Another useful part of the course that can be accessed through the learning lounge is the Rocket Chinese forum. This forum is fairly active and has moderators, including Lin Ping, to answer questions you may have about the Rocket Chinese course or learning Chinese in general.

Being a Rocket Chinese premium member qualifies you for lifetime updates. The company, Rocket Languages, are constantly improving their products so expect to see the odd update from time to time.

I think Rocket Chinese is good value for money. You will learn Chinese if you follow the course. But like most things you will only reap these rewards if you put the effort into using the course on a regular basis.