Rocket Spanish Learning Lounge – An Improvement On The Original Rocket Spanish Course ?

Rocket Spanish Learning Lounge

What's Inside The Learning Lounge ?

The makers of Rocket Spanish have changed the way that users access and interact with the course. The new (and improved ?) course is known as the Rocket Spanish Learning lounge. This article will review the changes and discuss if the course is better or worse for these changes.

So the major change is pretty much reflected in the name of the new course. The emphasis has changed from downloading the course and running it on your desktop to logging into the learning lounge and using the course online.

In the previous version of the course, you would download the audio files, pdf books and various games. You could then play them whenever you wanted and were pretty much responsible for how you progressed in the course. What I liked about this was the freedom you had. You could download the audio in one hit and then add it to your mp3 player or ipod. Thus you could listen to the audio when you had a spare moment (on the bus to work, doing the grocery shopping etc.) In fact, once you had downloaded the course from the Rocket Spanish website, unless you chose to participate in the forum, you would never have to visit the site again.

The learning lounge concept is a bit different. They want you to visit as much as possible and to this extent they have added new features to the course that encourage students to return. The main drawback of the course in it’s original version was that there was no feedback given to the student on how they were progressing.

Getting feedback helps to motivate a student and is an objective method to determine what the student needs to focus on. The learning lounge has multiple choice quizzes with each lesson. The student is encouraged to take the quiz at the end of the lesson. The answers are marked by the system and a score is returned. If the student passes the quiz, he/she can decide to progress onto the next lesson.

There are two stages. The first stage is Spanish basics and consists of 4 lessons. The second stage  is more advanced and focuses on cultural aspects of Spanish and South American culture. It consists of 5 lessons. Each stage has a certification test. This is a 100 question multiple choice test that covers all the lessons you have learned up to that stage. This test is really good and helps to reinforce your learning and tell you if you have really learned the concepts presented in the previous lessons.

Another aspect of the course that is supposed to get a bit more of a community feel to the product is the forum. This is a fairly active forum and even the creator of the product, Mauricio pops in from time to time.

I think this feedback aspect of the Rocket Spanish Learning lounge is a great improvement on the original course. Logging in and going through the lessons and taking the quizzes gives the student some structure. This is often lost when the student has to take this responsibility onto their own shoulders. So this is good and is more like a student/teacher relationship. Going onto the forum can also create more accountability for the student as they talk about how they have progressed.

In terms of the content of the learning lounge course and the original course, they are exactly the same as far as I can see. There is also a forum and you can still download the mega games – megaaudio, megaverb and megavocab. You download the games to your desktop and run them as per the original course. They have the same functionality. You can also download the audio files within the learning lounge but it seem this can only be done one lesson at a time, which could be annoying.

In general, I think the learning lounge concept has improved the Rocket Spanish course. It makes your Spanish learning more structured and can motivate you by giving feedback. A lack of these teaching methods tends to hold people back when they decide to learn Spanish with a self study course.

Go to the Rocket Spanish Learning lounge now.

Rocket Spanish Review

What is Rocket Spanish ?

NOTE : This is an older review of Rocket Spanish, before they created the learning lounge. The learning lounge is basically a membership site that you belong to which allows you to use the course material online or download it at your leisure. The Learning lounge has other features like testing your progress with quizzes and Rocket record that records your voice to improve pronunciation. Click this link for more on what the learning lounge offers.

With this said, the rest of this article will tell you what you get in the actual Rocket Spanish content, as this hasn’t changed that much as far as I can see.

Rocket Spanish is a Spanish learning course. Unlike many other Spanish learning products, it can be downloaded over the Internet. It took me about 25 minutes to download it with a broadband connection. The Rocket Spanish site has a provision for dial-up Internet but I believe this would take longer to download. (There is also a provision to buy the course as a hardcopy but it is considerably more expensive than the downloaded version and will take longer to receive)

What level is Rocket Spanish ?

The First Few Lessons

The courses caters for people new to learning Spanish. It aims to take beginners, through intermediate levels, to an advanced knowledge of the Spanish language. With this said, the level of grammar taught is quite advanced but you probably won’t be an advanced Spanish speaker at the end of the course. You won’t have the turn of phrase or the vocabulary to be an advanced speaker. You also won’t have the experience which will only come with using the language in real settings.

So I’d say you would have a decent conversational level of Spanish. You will be able to ask questions of people and have simple conversations about certain things. It’ll be fine for a tourist or someone planning to spend a bit of time in a Spanish speaking country that is willing to talk to people and take their learning to the next level.

How does it teach Spanish ?

The course comprises of 31 lessons.

The first 12 lessons are beginner lessons.

9 intermediate lessons build on the basics.

The remaining lessons are more applied and feature real life situations where you can follow a conversation, for example, in a restaurant.

Each lesson can take between 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on the skill level of the student and the knowledge of the topic being covered.

How is a lesson taught ?

Rocket Spanish Grammar Lesson

The topics of the lesson are introduced along with any new Spanish words.

The student will read through the introduction.

Any Spanish words can be clicked on and the audio for the word will be heard.

The audio takes the following format : first, the English equivalent is spoken, then the Spanish.

Then there is a pause and the Spanish is spoken again. This gives the student a chance to speak the Spanish and practice what he/she is learning.

More on the grammar lessons

More examples will be given of the topic and examples of how it is used.

A variety of written and multiple choice type exercises end the lesson.

The Random button can be pushed at any time and a Spanish sentence or word from the current lesson will be spoken.

This can allow the student to practice conversation and comprehension for this particular lesson. It can also act as a test or even a game where you have to guess the words or phrases. Although these tests are not marked like the one’s in the Learning Lounge, they can still reinforce and complement your learning.

As already mentioned, the pdf style lessons can be downloaded or viewed online. Initially you might want to view them online so that you can go back to other features of the course and maybe even use the My Notes section to take notes if needed.

After that, you might want to download the Pdf guides so that you don’t have to be online to learn Spanish. you can even print the guides out if you want to away from the computer completely.

Any other teaching methods used ?

There are two games that are used to teach :

Rocket Spanish MegaAudio Game

MegaVocab – vocabulary recognition, match one of 6 pictures to a word picked at random by the software.

MegaAudio – comprehension, listen to audio of a word or sentence and guess which of the 4 pictures represent the audio.

These games are useful to consolidate the knowledge learned in the lessons or as a warm up exercise before the lessons begin. Last time I looked at the games only the two were featured but they may have added another one called MegaVerb which tests verb conjugation now.

Rocket Spanish Flashcards

Flash cards are provided :
154 beginner flash cards
123 advanced flash cards

What is good about the course ?

The course builds from beginner to advanced. It will give the student a complete grasp of the Spanish Language at the end of the course.
Random button is good for adding a bit of spontaneity to the lesson. This is useful if you have done the lesson more than once and need to freshen it up a little.

What is bad about the course ?

The pictures in the megavocab are a bit misleading at times which makes guessing the correct words difficult.
You can only improve your pronunciation by listening and repeating the audio, no feedback is given by the software as to how your accent sounds.

Any bonuses ?

A new bonus is the survival kit. This is 13 extra lessons or supplementary resources to help you hit the ground running, so to speak, as soon as you leave the arrivals terminal at Barcelona airport or some other Spanish speaking setting. The kit is a mix of things from a Spanish phrase book that lists key phrases you might need or hear when you first arrive in a Spanish speaking country.

Other resources include key words that you may need. Some don’t seem as necessary as others. For instance, knowing all the words for parts of the body might be nice to know but not essential if you were a tourist for a couple of weeks vacation.

If you are still unsure about Rocket Spanish then you can sign up for the free 6 day course . This will give you a taste of the full course and how it is taught.
Once you have bought the course, you will be sent the Rocket Spanish newsletter every fortnight. The newsletter has a new lesson in each issue.

Summary

I think the content and scope of the Rocket Spanish course represents good value. Although it will take some work for a new student to learn Spanish, Rocket Spanish can certainly make this effort easier.

Note: You Don't Get A Laptop With The Purchase...It's Just Saying Online Access

Go to the Rocket Spanish website for more details and testimonials.

How The Rocket Spanish Audio Course Works

Talking To People Is Fun When You Have Some Basic Spanish

The audio component of any language learning course is the most important part in my opinion because it teaches you how to speak and comprehend spoken Spanish.

This is the whole point of learning a new language – to speak to people from different cultures and experiences. You will also find that once you get the confidence to talk to Spanish speaking people without feeling foolish or embarrassed your learning will come on in leaps and bounds.

Speaking words and sentences make them stick and being able to communicate your thoughts to other people motivates you to learn more Spanish. So once you get to this stage in your learning, it gets a whole lot more easier and even enjoyable as you can start to express your thoughts and feelings to people.

Some of the first audio lessons

I think the Rocket Spanish audio course is very good. It comprises 31 lessons of about 20-30 minutes in length.

The basic format of each lesson is a scene involving the narrator of the course and her native Spanish speaking friend.

So for example, they might be in a restaurant and they would have a conversation revolving around things you might say at the restaurant.

After the conversation the lesson would work through the conversation explaining points of grammar, vocabulary and, most importantly, pronunciation.

The narrator is an English speaking person and she will guide the teaching and explain concepts and meanings of Spanish words.

The native Spanish speaker (Mauricio, the creator of the course) speaks all the Spanish conversations. He will say a sentence and then say each of the words or pronunciation chunks separately so that the listener can repeat the pronunciation after her.

This method is similar to the Pimsleur way of teaching pronunciation. It might be a bit slow to begin with, but it breaks down each syllable and ensures that you stress each syllable correctly.

You can listen Online or Download the audio files

The native Spanish speaker generally says all the sentences once and then pauses allowing the listener to say the sentence out loud. They stress that you have to speak the words out loud to get the pronunciation right. As I said before, by saying something it seems to stick in your head.

At the end of each lesson the narrator recaps the points of the lesson. They will run through the conversation again and then ask a few questions that try to incorporate what you have just learned into what you learned in previous lessons.

The interactive part of the audio lessons involves speaking the sentences and pronunciation chunks after the native speaker and answering the questions that the narrator might ask. If the narrator asks a question, there will be a pause that allows you to answer, then the native Spanish speaker will give the correct answer.

As I say, I think the audio course, in conjunction with the games, e-book course and flash cards makes the Rocket Spanish course good value for money. It will definitely help you to learn Spanish or take your Spanish learning to the next level. I think the audio will give you more confidence to speak to real Spanish people, which is half the battle when it comes to becoming fluent in a new language.

For a review of the other components of the Rocket Spanish course see my Rocket Spanish Review and description on how to use the Rocket Spanish games.

The Laptop doesn't come with the course, it's just to show that it is online !

Go to the official Rocket Spanish website.

Transparent Spanish Complete Edition VS Rocket Spanish: You Decide

Rocket Spanish vs Transparent Spanish

Rocket Spanish vs Transparent Spanish - Which One Is Best ?

Spanish is the second most diversely spoken language in the world next to English. So it is only natural that Spanish language learning programs are high in demand.

But with so many readily available on the market today, people who want to learn this language, like yourself, can get confused on which one truly is the best – especially since they all claim to be.

Not that it isn’t true – it is just a matter of finding which one is best FOR YOU.

So here you will find two of the top Spanish language learning programs in an unbiased comparison to help you get what you are looking for.

Here’s a Transparent Spanish Complete Edition VS Rocket Spanish review to help you decide what kind of Learn Spanish course you need.

Method and Tools and Functions

One of the most important things you have to consider before choosing a program is how it will teach you and what it will teach you with. No two programs are alike, as neither are any two people.

The creator behind Rocket Spanish believes that the best way to learn Spanish is by learning it the way you learned your mother tongue – the conversational learning approach. So in this course, you will focus on speaking and listening comprehension.

When you were young, these were the two skills that you used way before you  could write or read and you ended up becoming fluent anyway.

For Transparent Spanish Complete Edition, the creator believes in utilizing all of your skills. So unlike Rocket Spanish, you will be focusing on both written and verbal approaches.

With Rocket Spanish, you have 31 interactive audio conversations that you will actively participate in from day one. To help you out, a complete script of the dialogues also comes with the whole package as well as step by step explanations and instructions.

Aside from that, for you to really get into the Spanish language, you will also have 31 Spanish history and culture lessons that are bound to help you understand the language and give some context to the new words you are learning.

What’s In A Game ?

Another great tool that is supposed to help you learn the language better while having fun at the same time is the games that are provided. When you enjoy what you are doing, studying will seem effortless.

MegaVocab is a game where in you have to match the correct Spanish word to the corresponding picture. This should help you learn as well as retain new vocabulary and phrases.

MegaAudio, similar to the first game wherein you have to match audio files to the correct picture, should help you improve your listening comprehension as well as your Spanish pronunciation.

MegaVerbs, the latest addition, should help you out with learning grammar and, one of the hardest parts of learning Spanish, conjugation.

Testing 1,2,3…Testing

Since learning can’t be all fun and games, there are self tests and quizzes that you can take to check just how much you have learned. The progress tacking feature that comes with will automatically record your results so that you will know exactly which areas you need to focus your attention on and which ones you can pay less.

Let’s Be Transparent

If you think that that Rocket Spanish has a lot of features and tools, then you will be surprised on just how many Transparent Spanish Complete Edition has.

Well, it isn’t called COMPLETE for nothing. This program is actually a compilation of other programs created by the same company. It has 5 audio CDs as well as around 1200 MP3 media files and videos.

Transparent Spanish Vs Rocket SpanishOn Your BYKI

BYKI Flashcards are a part of the whole package. This is an age old method that was given a twist to supposedly increase its effectiveness. Basically you are supposed to preview the words written on a card – the English and the Spanish.

Then you have to choose the right definition of the Spanish term, Finally you are supposed to produce the words with a couple of English phrases provided.

BYKI (pronounced bikey) is a system that uses declarative learning techniques as opposed to procedural techniques. this is based on research that suggests that we store information in facts and figures (and in terms of language – vocabulary) in the declarative part of the brain. We store ways to do things in the procedural part of the brain.

Whilst you need procedural skills to speak a foreign language, you also need a heap of declarative facts or words in order to speak fluently.  The BYKI system helps you learn words. It is like a computerized version of the age of flashcards. It’s a bit more sophisticated than plain old flashcards but the purpose is the same.

How About A LinguaMatch

LinguaMatch is one feature that you probably won’t find in any other program. Since not everyone has the opportunity to practice Spanish in real life situations on a day to day basis, LinguaMatch provides you with 30 virtual reality ones that you can actually enter.

Here you will be able to interact with the characters, ask questions, and be asked in return. They claim this to be a great method to practice your speaking skills and further develop your vocabulary and grammar, such as conjugation.

Aside from those tools and features, there are even more such as the slow sound function that allows you to control the speed of Spanish conversations and the progress pie chart that lets you know which areas you need to focus on and which ones you don’t by a color coordinated system- not to mention the tons of visuals, games, tests, and quizzes right at the tip of your hand- actually, more like the click of your mouse.

Transparent Spanish Vs Rocket Spanish Summary

So as you can see, from the method to the tools and functions, these two programs are both different however they “promise” to give you the same thing – for you to be able to speak Spanish in a relatively short amount of time. If you want to go with the simple more natural way of learning, then Rocket Spanish is highly recommended but if you want a more traditional approach with all the bells and whistles and even more, then Transparent Spanish Complete Edition is your best bet.

One is not necessarily better than the other. It really is a matter of preference. So basically now that you have the facts, regarding Transparent Spanish Complete Edition VS Rocket Spanish, it’s up to you to decide which one fits your learning style.

Rocket Spanish VS Tell Me More Spanish – Which Program Is Best?

Tell Me More Spanish vs Rocket Spanish

Tell Me More Spanish vs Rocket Spanish

Learning Spanish is not an easy thing to master- but it can be with the right program.

Now, I’m not saying that by choosing the best one you will be speaking like you’re a native of Buenos Aires or Madrid with just the snap of your fingers – but it will make the learning process a whole lot better.

So take the first step to find just the right language learning program that fits you best.

Here is my honest and unbiased comparison between two of the leading learn Spanish programs available on the market today. So here is Rocket Spanish VS Tell Me More Spanish  – which program is best for you?

Method and Tools:

Each and every person has their own way of learning in which they pick up information the fastest. So it is no wonder that no two language learning programs are the same when it comes down to the method and tools that they use.

Of course all of them will claim that they are the best. This is not strictly true or false – it is just a matter of which one is BEST for YOU.

Rocket Spanish, created, developed and designed by Mauricio Evlampieff, takes the interactive conversational learning approach. He believes that the best way to speaking Spanish is through taking part in Spanish conversations right off the bat – no matter how low your level is.

Quite honestly, this method has been tried and tested and proven to be true for EVERYONE- even you. Think about it. You, just like the rest of us, learned how to speak, listen, and understand your mother tongue before you could even hold a pen, let along read an entire page of a book or even just a single word.

So Rocket Spanish applies this same theory and infuses it with fun and interesting approaches. You will have 31 downloadable interactive audio conversations and the entire scripts written down and step by step explanations.

Since you already know how to read and write – make use of it! You also have 31 Spanish culture lessons to help you really get the feel of the whole language and see how words and sentences work in context. This will give you more confidence when speaking.

Rocket Spanish Interface

Rocket Spanish Interface

To make things entertaining, Rocket Spanish also comes with three games that are sure to help you with the language you desire to learn-

MegaVocab which will help you with learning and retaining Spanish words,

MegaAudio which will help you with pronunciation and listening skills, and

MegaVerbs which helps you learn one of the most difficult areas you will have to tackle – grammar and conjugation.

This keeps things fun and educational at the same time.

Just like when you are trying to lose weight, when you see your progress, it is natural to be motivated to carry on until you finally reach your goal. You can take practice tests and self quizzes – all recorded with the progress tracking so that you know which areas you accelerate in as well as the ones that need a little more work.

These are all done in the Rocket Spanish Learning Lounge, which is basically their membership site.

Tell Me More Spanish, which was created by the language experts at Tell Me More Languages, takes what they call the P.R.I.M.E. approach.

Tell Me More Spanish interface

Tell Me More Spanish Interface

PROGRESSIVE- they claim that you will help succeed no matter your level as they keep you motivated and on the right track to your ultimate goal- speaking Spanish.

REAL WORLD- Tell Me More Spanish focuses on the culture and the language to help you learn. This means that you will be focused on videos, graphics, animations, as well as situations that you would encounter in real life in real Spanish speaking countries.

INTERACTIVE- you will take part in actual dialogues as well as various exercises that make you practice Spanish.

MOTIVATING- because there are 40 different types of activities, you don’t get used to one therefore you will continuously challenge yourself to master each one and you won’t feel complacent.

EFFECTIVE- according to the people at Tell Me More, this method has a 94% success rate.

Other features that Tell Me More Spanish has to offer are SETS or the Spoken Error Tracking System which will automatically know when you have a pronunciation mistake and offer advice on how to correct it at once.

Another hi-tech feature would have to be voice recognition- it is because of these two features that a specialized headset with mic comes with the whole package.

Plus you also get reading, writing, listening, and speaking workshops.

Support

With Rocket Spanish you will have email support, phone support as well as tutorials.

With Tell Me More Spanish you will have FAQ, email and phone support, and tutorials too.

Rocket Spanish vs Tell Me More Spanish Summary 

Both language courses cater to beginner, intermediate and advanced students however with Rocket Spanish they focus on conversation, listening, and grammar skills while Tell Me More Spanish focuses on conversation, grammar, listening, pronunciation, reading, and writing.

So basically, one is not necessarily better than the other. Think about what you need and what best suits your learning style. The cost of each package might be a consideration too. Tell Me More is more expensive but has more functionality in my opinion. Rocket Spanish is cheaper but seems to be expanding their functionality all the time. For instance, they have recently added a way to improve your pronunciation called Rocket Record.

Although these two courses both teach Spanish on general, their specific educational goals, methods, and tools are very different. So Rocket Spanish VS Tell Me More Spanish -Which Program Is Best? Here are the facts to help you decide.

Rocket Spanish Or Fluenz Spanish: Which Course Should You Take?

Rocket Spanish vs Fluenz Spanish

Rocket Spanish vs Fluenz Spanish - What To Go For ?

Do you want to learn Spanish but don’t know where to begin? Selecting the right language learning course is the key to success.

However, with so many options readily available, things can get a tad bit confusing. So here is a honest comparison of two programs on the market today that have both been proven to be effective.

One is already well known while the other is still making a name for itself but is surely on the right path. With nothing but the facts, Rocket Spanish or Fluenz Spanish: Which Course Should You Take?

The Rocket Spanish Approach

Mauricio Evalmpieff, the creator and developer of Rocket Spanish, believes that the best way to learn a language is the natural way – just like when you were young. As a child learning a language for the first time, you, just like everybody else, learned how to listen, speak, and understand way before you learned how to read and write.

The interactive conversational method that Rocket Spanish uses is pretty much based on that concept. So instead of focusing on reading and writing, you will start with listening to Spanish conversations right away and actually take part in them from your very first lesson.

The Fluenz Spanish Approach

The Fluenz Spanish on the other hand claims that more traditional methods are better and more effective. So this course, unlike Rocket Spanish, focuses on reading and writing as well as speaking and listening. Even the length of each is lesson is much longer- 2 hour classes, kinda like the ones you have in college.

You will have an introduction to the lesson. Understand why you need it. Hear a conversation in Spanish. Learn the vocabulary, grammar, and structures used.

Then you will follow up with reading, writing, listening, and speaking exercises.

Rocket Spanish Learning Tools and Features

The whole package comes with 31 interactive audio conversations with video that you can download and each comes with a complete script of the conversation to help you out even more.

Aside from that, you will also get 31 Spanish culture and history videos to help you understand the language and the whole gist of things much better.

Although the main approach of Rocket Spanish is conversational learning, it is not the only one it offers.

So, to kind of boost what you have learned through the conversations, the three games that are provided give learning a fun twist.

  • You have MegaVocab, for words and phrases,
  • MegaAudio, for listening comprehension and pronunciation,
  • and you have MegaVerbs, for grammar and conjugation.

To see how much you have learned, you can take the quizzes and tests. After you are done with each one, it will be automatically recorded into the progress tracking feature.

This is a great way to see which areas need and don’t need more attention.

Fluenz Spanish Tools and Features

Fluenz Spanish Interface

Fluenz Spanish Interface

With Fluenz Spansih you will get 60 classes that vary from one and a half to two hours each.

Aside from how long each session is, another factor that gives it the classroom feel is the private tutor, Sonia Gil, who will help and guide you on video every single step of the way.

One thing about Fluenz Spanish that they claim to be one of the most useful features is that instead of giving you a list of Spanish words that you have to memorize, you will be taught words that you will actually hear and use in actual Spanish conversations in real life settings.

So, for example, instead of learning dog and cat, you will learn words such as telephone and bathroom.

You will also have a voice recording feature so that you can compare your pronunciation with a that of a native Spanish speaker and various interactive activities that are supposed to enhance your skills, and the Fluenz navigator to help you out with words and phrases.

One thing that does make Fluenz stand out from the others is definitely the interface. It is just so pretty.

However, one feature that is not traditional about Fluenz Spanish is that it does not track your mistakes and errors. The creators believe that positive reinforcement is the best method to keep you motivated.

Rocket Spanish Or Fluenz Spanish Summary

Basically, you have to decide whether you want to learn the natural way or the more traditional way, whether you want to focus on listening and speaking, or if you want to go the whole nine yards and cover writing and reading as well.

You may also want to factor in the cost. Fluenz Spanish is more expensive but probably has more content.

How the content is delivered is also a consideration. Fluenz is basically a software program that is delivered to you in a box. You use it on your computer (compatible with PC and MACs).

Rocket Spanish is more or an online resource that can be downloaded if needed.

So Rocket Spanish or Fluenz Spanish: Which course should you take? No one knows you better than yourself.

Bueno, Entonces or Rocket Spanish – Which One Is Best ?

Rocket Spanish or Bueno, Entonces ?

Rocket Spanish or Bueno, Entonces ?

If you are looking for a fun way to learn Spanish, then there are two courses that you should definitely consider – Rocket Spanish and Bueno, Entonces.

Both are the same in the sense that they are interesting and entertaining, but when it boils down to the features and whatnot, these two can be very different.

Choosing can be quite a drag. So that is where this article comes in. Hopefully after you read it, you will be able to choose the one that suits you best. With the right program, you will be speaking Spanish in no time.

What do you get ?

Bueno, Entonces is one of the latest programs released to teach you conversational Spanish in just a few weeks time and was developed and created by General Linguistics.

You will have 30 classes. The length of the lessons vary from 30-40 minutes long each. You will have a total of 6 discs that actually leave you with 1000 minutes of run time.

But what is great about this is that it is perfect for your iPhone, iTouch, iPad, Blckaberry, or any other android phone.

Rocket Spanish is another product of Rocket Languages. They claim that you will be able to learn Spanish in a short period of time with the 32 downloadable interactive lessons that are provided as well as the 32 illustrated lessons.

What makes it fun at the same time educational?

Let’s start with Bueno, Entonces. This is fun basically because of the whole way it was made. You see, when you take Bueno, Entonces, it will feel like you are actually watching some sitcom that is both funny and educational.

The bilingual banter between the Argentinean Spanish teacher and the Brit boy from London will definitely keep boredom away. As you progress through the lesson, their storyline progresses too – that alone is one reason for you to keep on going.

Bueno Entonces Interface

Bueno Entonces Interface

No matter how entertaining it is, the main goal of this program is still for you to learn conversational Spanish. That is where the Pizzara Magica comes in. This is where you can learn grammar and vocabulary.

The words are color coded according to their word function – like dark green for verbs and purple for adjectives and adverbs.

Aside from that, you get to see both the English and the Spanish sentences- so you can actually see the difference between the two.

You will also have symbols and picture to help you out with the vocab and grammar.

The dialogue is in both English and Spanish. So that is how you get to practice your listening as well as your speaking.

The Magic Whiteboard

Now for Rocket Spanish. What makes Rocket Spanish fun has definitely got to be the three games that come with the entire package.

You have MegaVocab, MegaAudio, and MegaVerbs.

You actually learn while you play.

  • With the MegaVocab, you have to match a pictue with the right Spanish word. This is supposed to help build up your Spanish vocabulary.
  • You can enhance your listening and pronunciation with MegaAudio as you match the short audio file also with the correct picture.
  • Quite obviously, you will learn grammar and conjugation through MegaVerbs.

According to Rocket Spanish, you will be able to retain what you have learned much more as you use both your eyes and your ears through picture and word association.

How do you learn?

Bueno, Entonces follows five principles that they claim are the stepping stones to speaking Spanish fluently.

  • First, it has to be interesting and engaging.
  • Second, you can see the words on the screen.
  • Third is the color coding system,
  • followed by the illustrations and symbols for the fourth.
  • Fifth is simple repetition.

Rocket Spanish focuses on interaction as it lets you actually take part in the conversations that you hear. Aside from that, you follow up with ebooks that explain a lot about the Spanish language, you play games. You even have flash cards to help you retain what you have learned. But, just like Bueno, Entonces, repetition is also a key part of their method.

What do you learn?

Both language learning programs obviously are designed to teach you Spanish but if you want to focus only on the informal and casual side, then you should go for Bueno, Entonces. It isn’t called Spanish for the streets for nothing. Heck, you even get to learn words that you never would in any Spanish class.

But if you want to learn both casual and formal Spanish, then Rocket Spanish is your best bet.

Pimsleur Spanish VS Rocket Spanish

Rocket Spanish VS Pimsleur Spanish

Rocket Spanish VS Pimsleur Spanish ?

So, you want to learn Spanish but you have no idea where to begin and which approach to take. Choosing the right program is always the first and most important step if you want to succeed in speaking Spanish. Making that decision is tough enough as it is, so here is an article comparing two of the most popular courses available today- Pimsleur Spanish VS Rocket Spanish.

Now, I’m not telling you to choose one over the other but rather helping you decide which one suits you best. Haste makes waste. So take the time to go over the facts before you run off to the store and grab one off the shelf.

Pimsleur Spanish Review

According to Dr. Paul Pimsleur, the best way to learn Spanish is through listening and active participation in the conversations and dialogues and lessons.

Basically, the strategy that Pimsleur Spanish takes is called Graduated Interval Recall and Principle of Anticipation.

Graduated Interval Recall, put simply, means that the moment you begin to forget a word or phrase that you have learned, you will be encouraged to remember what it is which is supposed to take those words from your short term memory to your long term memory.

Principal of Anticipation means that you will already “anticipate” the correct answer before you hear it from the lessons.

The main educational goal of Pimsleur Spanish is short term travel to a Spanish speaking country.

Rocket Spanish Review

Mauricio Evlampieff, creator and developer of Rocket Spanish believes that if you want to learn Spanish, the right approach to doing this in a short amount of time would have to be through interactive Conversational Learning. Actually, the method is similar to that of Pimsleur Spanish but quite honestly focuses on making learning fun.

There are actually two educational goals- one is also short term travel to a Spanish speaking country. The other one is vocabulary practice.

Pimsleur Spanish Features:

With Pimsleur Spanish, for each of the 3 levels it has to offer you will get 30 audio lesson, each 30 minutes long.

All in all, that is a whopping 15 hours of audio instruction. This is available in either CD or, believe it or not, cassette and is totally MP3 compatible.

Since the lessons are relatively short and you can practically take it with you wherever you go, it is easy to squeeze Spanish into your hectic schedule.

When you have problems, you will have email support as well as phone support.

Rocket Spanish Features:

Rocket Spanish has more to offer when it comes down to features.

Rocket Spanish has 30 downloadable audio lessons that are all MP3 compatible plus you can even get the entire dialogue on paper or computer screen.

As mentioned earlier, Rocket Spanish focuses on making learning fun- with games!

You have MegaVocab, MegaAudio, and MegaVerbs. You will also have access to online user forums so that you can actually chat or with fellow learners. You will have practice tests too as well as virtual reality scenarios.

If need arises, you have phone support, email support, live chat, and even access to an online tutor.

Basically, if you like to keep learning simple, if your focus is pretty much speaking and not really on writing, reading, and whatnot, then Pimsleur Spanish should be perfect for you.

However, Rocket Spanish will give you more of an insight into the reading and recognition of words. It will improve your vocabulary and verb conjugation. More gets added all the time with Rocket Spanish, including Rocket Record.

So if you really wanna go all out and truly understand the language, then Rocket Spanish is the smarter choice.

Does Rocket Spanish Teach Conjugation?

Spanish is one of the most sought out second languages in modern society today. So it is only normal for Spanish language learning programs to follow suit. Rocket Spanish currently is one of the more popular systems on the market. But does that mean that it is the right program for you?

One of the hardest parts of learning Spanish would definitely have to be learning the verbs and their various forms. So if you are one of the many who struggle with that problem, you can’t help but ask- Does Rocket Spanish teach conjugation ?

So, in this article, you will not only learn a bit more about Rocket Spanish on the whole but you will get the answer to the question stated above. Go ahead and read on.

What is Rocket Spanish?

To start off, you may be wondering what exactly is Rocket Spanish and why is it so popular. Rocket Spanish is another product designed and developed by Rocket Languages. This language learning course allows you, the student, to interact and participate in the audio lessons that feature conversations and dialogs between native Spanish speakers.

According to Rocket Spanish, this will also allow you to compare their pronunciation with yours through the use of online voice mapping technology. Aside from speaking and listening, this course also offers writing, reading, language, and culture lessons as well.

One thing that makes Rocket Spanish stand out is that it makes your learning experience an enjoyable one as games have been integrated into the program.

You have MegaVocab. Through this game, as you probably have already guessed, you will be able to learn and build up your Spanish vocabulary. Although it seems relatively simple- you will choose from a list of topics such as Food and Drink and Transportation, then you will be shown a picture with the English word. Then you simply have to select the proper Spanish word out of a couple of choices provided.

Another game is MegaAudio which has pretty much the same concept but this focuses more on listening and pronunciation skills. However, in this case you will have to match a short audio file with the right picture.

Finally, you have MegaVerbs- so this kinda already answers the question does Rocket Spanish teach conjugation.

Does Rocket Spanish Teach Conjugation?

To give you a straight forward answer- Does Rocket Spanish teach conjugation? Good news, yes it does. Actually, there is a whole section devoted to just Spanish Verbs. That may be one of the reasons that Rocket Spanish stands out.

Everyone knows that Verbs are hard to learn, let alone conjugation. Everyone also knows that these are two very important factors to master in learning the Spanish language.

Basically, Rocket Spanish claims that you will be able to learn everything you need to know regarding verbs in this section- from subjects to verbs, both regular and irregular, to tenses to infinitives to conjugation.

What I personally liked about this is that you will first get a brief background on the things you need to know- such as grammar terms and whatnot. You will also learn and begin to realize the differences between English and Spanish regarding this.

For example:

In English, your basic structure goes S + V – subject plus verb.
I write. (present tense)
You wrote. (past tense)
We will write. (future tense)

However, not so much is true with Spanish. In fact, you just need a single word to say the exact same thing in their language.

Escribo. (present tense)
Escribiste. (preterite past tense)
Escribiremos. (future tense)

This, my friend, is conjugation- and you will learn a lot about it with Rocket Spanish.

Then you can move on to specifics. Another thing about Rocket Spanish is that it teaches you in a step by step process and offers full explanation and examples. There are a couple of picture too that are supposed to help you remember what you learn through visual recognition, but nothing flashy at all.

So, again, does Rocket Spanish teach conjugation? Yes. Simple yet satisfactory.

If you feel like Rocket Spanish is what you are looking for after all, then you should try shopping online so that you can get a great deal and big discount.

>>>Get Rocket Spanish here<<<

Compare Rocket Spanish To Michel Thomas Course

The Michel Thomas and Rocket Spanish course are popular ways to Learn Spanish but they have different aims and teach in different ways. They also vary in price. So if you are stuck about which one best suits your needs then check out this article on Rocket Spanish Vs Michel Thomas Spanish. It should help you make a more informed decision.

The Michel Thomas course is primarily concerned with teaching conversational skills. His approach to teaching is excellent and you finish with confidence that you can initiate a conversation with a Spanish speaking person.

Rocket Spanish teaches reading, writing, comprehension and conversational skills. There is a large vocabulary set that can be learned through the games and exercises in the lessons. The exercises allow the student to practice writing.

Michel Thomas course is easy to use, all you need is a cd or mp3 player. You can listen to the lessons anywhere, however, you do need to concentrate on the lesson so driving might not be the best idea.

Rocket Spanish is accessed online through the Learning Lounge. It can also be downloaded. Although there are plenty of features to this course, the main parts are an audio course and a grammar and culture pdf guide book.

The audio course comprises of 33 half hour lessons and various tests and quizzes after each lesson.

The Pdf style guidebook is 32 lessons which can take one hour to 45 minutes to go through each one.  The main menu lists all the lessons available, with descriptions of the topics covered .

Rocket Spanish also features educational word games and the flash cards. All the lessons and games are controlled by the mouse.

Michel Thomas Spanish is aimed a people wanting to learn Spanish quickly. If you are planning a sudden vacation in Spain or a Spanish speaking country then Michel Thomas is a great choice. My only criticism of the course is that Michel Thomas does not have a good Spanish accent. This might not be so good for perfecting pronunciation but his teaching methods are really good.

The basic format of the lessons is Michel Thomas teaching 2 students. You make the third student and follow along with his teaching. He will ask questions during the teaching and at the end.

The students on the recording will attempt to answer the questions but you are advised to stop the cd or mp3 player before they answer and think of your own answer. Say the answer out loud and then continue the player to see if you answered correctly.

I’m not sure if the students are scripted or genuine but they seem to have problems with some of the things he teaches and not understand things, just like in a real class. They will ask silly questions at times which can be infuriating at times, especially if you have listened to the lessons a few times. But it is also kind of charming at times and makes you feel like you are participating in a real class with real people.

Michel Thomas Spanish is currently sold on Amazon and works out at $5 a lesson if you consider that you get 10 cds.

>>> Checkout out Michel Thomas Spanish here <<<

Rocket Spanish is aimed at people that want to get a fully rounded Spanish language education. It has sections that teach you to speak, listen, read and write. You will spend many hours using the program as an educational tool and as a reference guide for Spanish words and verbs. The games provide a useful distraction when you need a break from the lessons. You can also warm up on the games before starting a proper lesson.

Unfortunately you don't get a laptop with your purchase of Rocket Spanish despite the picture

If you are interested in Rocket Spanish then visit the official site.

« Older Entries