Review: Rocket Spanish

Rocket Spanish is a "learn Spanish" audio course, well-known for giving you a good start in conversational Spanish. It comes with a variety of useful add-ons, but I'd say that the heart of the program is the 31 mp3 files which you can listen to, on your computer, on CDs, or on mp3 players. Click here or on the image to take a look at its website.

I've taken the course and say more about my experiences further down this page.

In short, it is a practical, easy-to-use method to learn Spanish fast -- you can get a lot of the basics in just a few weeks. I like it.

I think it's especially good for you if:

• You are planning a vacation in a Spanish-speaking country and want to be able to talk some with people there.
  
• You are "on the go" or have more time to learn from mp3 files on an ipod (or other mp3 player) than by sitting in front of a computer.
  
• You aren't a big fan of intricate computer software, or your computer is kind of an antique.
  
• You want something you can start today.
  
• You want something clear and straightforward, teaching you the words and phrases you are most likely to need in conversation.

So What Exactly IS Rocket Spanish?

Its core is the audio course of 31 Spanish lessons, each one about 20 minutes long. The discussions are between Mauricio Mauricio Evlampieff who is from Chile and Amy Waterman, whose first language is English but speaks a far better Spanish than I ever will!

At first I thought, "Gee, I'd rather hear two native speakers," but as I worked with the course more, I realized that Amy became a kind of role model for me. This was useful in motivation, and she has a great accent.

An accompanying e-book gives you the actual transcript of the dialog, along with further comments and vocabulary.

There are several more e-books as well. The beginning and advanced grammar books are actually fun to read, as they are attractively laid out. A lot of care obviously went into making the  lessons enticing.

There are also some enjoyable ways to enhance your vocabulary, an online forum, email support, and a 60-day money back guarantee.

Pros and Cons of Rocket Spanish

Some Pros:

1. Rocket Spanish is very easy to use. Basically, just listen to the audio files and do a bit of reading in the e-books.
   
2. Because it's easy to use, I would guess that people are more likely to do the Rocket Spanish lessons than they are to do some of the more complex programs out there. It's easy to fit into your life, with no computer hassles.
   
3. The add-on vocabulary building is very useful, as is the online forum where you can get your questions answered.
   
4. If you download Rocket Spanish, you can have the whole package just a few minutes from now... or from whenever you purchase.

Some Cons:

1. While I think the downloadable version is a great bargain, the physical product is way more money for essentially the same thing.
   
2. Rocket Spanish does not have speech activation software, so there is no way for it to correct your pronunciation.
   
3. The homepage of the Rocket Spanish website is long and enthusiastic, and it's also very informative. I'm the sort who would always rather have the information.... and (blush) I write some pretty long pages myself! 

See my comparison chart of ways to learn Spanish to find out more about how Rocket Spanish compares with other programs.

My Experiences Testing Rocket Spanish

My husband and I were both pleasantly surprised by how nicely Rocket Spanish is put together. We listened to a number of the lessons on a long road trip from our home in central Mexico, back to see family in the US. We picked up quite a few phrases and grammatical points, rather to our surprise. (The Rocket Spanish team was kind enough to provide me with a review copy of the program. My Spanish would not be called anything like perfect, but I am at a pretty advanced level, so I didn't think purchasing Rocket Spanish would be appropriate.)

To see for yourself what Rocket Spanish offers, click on the image: