Rocket Languages

Category

Description of App

Learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin (and more) anytime and anywhere with Rocket Languages. Our courses are designed to minimize your time to become conversational while keeping it fun!

THE ROCKET SYSTEM

We use the key strategies that successful polyglots use to learn 5 or more languages.

1. Making the BEST USE of limited time: Rocket is designed so that you can learn at your own pace and in your own time.

2. Understanding EXACTLY how the language and culture works: You get in-depth, step by step instructions on how the language works (in English), as well as valuable cultural tips

3. REINFORCE what you learn so that it sticks forever: Our scientifically designed Testing algorithm re-displays words and phrases that you are weak on until they stick in your head like glue.

4. Practice SPEAKING and SOUNDING like a native: The Rocket system has several features that prompt you to speak out loud. A key plank to your success.

5. Maintain MOTIVATION and have fun while you learn: Rocket has been designed to include a whole range of activities and features that will keep you engaged, motivated, and on track.

OUR LANGUAGES
• You can learn Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Hindi, and Korean.
• Free sample courses are available in all languages (no ads!)

ROCKETS MAIN FEATURES

Each full level has:
• Over 60 hours of Interactive Audio lessons
• Over 60 hours of Language & Culture lessons
• Plenty of Writing lessons (script languages only)
• Voice Recognition that lets you perfect your pronunciation on the thousands of phrases in every course
• 24/7 lifetime access with free upgrades
• All of your progress is synchronized across all of your devices

Version

4.3.0

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

No

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

11.2

Accessibility Comments

Rocket Languages suffers from some design and accessibility issues which make it very cumbersome for VoiceOver users to utilize its beneficial features. Namely the absence of proper headings to separate various sections on each page, the app's lack of proper language tags in order to tell VoiceOver to switch to a new TTS language when a new language is detected on a new paragraph, and some labelling issues are true showstoppers. What's more, as one flicks left and right to move around various controls and sections on each page via VoiceOver, several so-called empty slots or placeholders, indicated by a simple "ding" sound are encountered which make navigation painfully -- and needlessly -- slow.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.

Other Comments

First off, If you want to help make the app more accessible, please kindly send an email to support@rocketlanguages.com and provide them with the URL to this AppleVis page after describing its accessibility issues in brief.
It's worth mentioning that the app itself is free, but one should purchase a level or several levels from Rocket Languages' catalog in order to continue using the app. I suggest purchasing languages or levels from their website as opposite to what the in-app purchase feature provides because the website provides lots of discounts and deals.
In my opinion the app's lack of language tags is the most serious issue. That is, if you encounter a German or French sentence/paragraph, the app fails to tell VoiceOver to switch to the proper French/German TTS voice. This means one has to alter the TTS manually via the Rotor and then re-alter it to English as one moves back to English text -- very annoying. Oftentimes the Play/Pause button is also repeated twice and I'm not sure what the second instance does. The button for voice recognition, next to Play/Pause, is also apparently unlabelled, but it seems to be read properly by VoiceOver once one makes the switch to the target language manually via the Rotor. Now add to these the app's absence of headings on most pages for each level and you'll see why Rocket Languages, at this stage, isn't much VoiceOver-friendly.
Finally, I must add that their website is much more accessible, and the fact that their audio files and PDF material can be downloaded for offline use are huge benefits in case you're interested.

Developer's Twitter Username

@rocketlanguages

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