Rocket Japanese Review 

In this Rocket Japanese review, I’ll cover everything you need to know about the course. From its key features, pros and cons, and whether it’s worth paying for or not. I’ll also compare Rocket Japanese to other renowned online Japanese language courses to help you decide if it’s the right one for you.

By way of introduction, I’m Learnopoly’s resident foreign language expert. I’m fluent in three languages and have tested tons of language learning apps. I’ve also spent time in Tokyo playing little league baseball. So I can bring my experience with languages and Japanese to this review.

Whether you’re dreaming of reading your favorite manga without translations, gaining conversational fluency, or simply looking for the best way to learn Japanese, I’m here to help you decide if Rocket Japanese is a good option for you.

What is Rocket Japanese?

Rocket Japanese is a pioneering online course developed by Rocket Languages, a well-known provider of language learning courses. It has played a significant role in establishing Rocket Languages as a leading provider for language learning.

Designed to be user-friendly and convenient, it caters to both beginners and advanced learners. With comprehensive course material, including grammar, vocabulary, culture, and conversation skills, you can expect to gain a well-rounded understanding of the Japanese language.

Rocket Japanese has been successful in helping thousands of students achieve conversational fluency in Japanese via its innovative language learning techniques, state-of-the-art technology, and interactive tools. Many past students report success. Testament to the platform’s effectiveness and ability to make learning exciting and dynamic.

Students can access the platform via their web browser or the Rocket Languages mobile app. The app allows students to access the platform’s resources on the go and syncs progress between them.

How does Rocket Japanese work?

Rocket Japanese’s user-friendly interface provides several elements that make it an effective language learning tool. These include: 

• Interactive Audio Lessons: Which help students learn and practice speaking. They allow you to listen to native Japanese speakers and repeat phrases. Ensuring you develop proper pronunciation and conversational skills.
• Interactive Exercises: To practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening in Japanese, covering all aspects of language acquisition.
• Language & Culture Lessons: Providing valuable insights into Japanese culture and into the structure and mechanics of the Japanese language. You’ll gain knowledge about traditions, history, customs, and tourist sites, enriching your understanding of Japanese-speaking countries.
• Writing Lessons: For an introduction to the three different Japanese scripts: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. The lessons help you learn the basics of reading, writing, and sounding out the characters from each script. 
• Survival Kit Phrases: Everyday phrases that significantly enhance your vocabulary and practical language skills.
• Extra Tools: Such as leaderboard rankings, a benchmark test, Rocket JLPT certification, saved notes, saved vocabulary, Rocket Recommends, and a forum for discussion and collaboration.

Rocket’s Japanese course is categorized into the following proficiency levels:

Level	JLPT Level*	Lessons & Assessments	Length
Level 1	N5	9 Modules/113 Lesson Blocks	175 hrs
Level 2	N4	8 Modules/82 Lesson Blocks	139 hrs
Level 3	N4	8 Modules/81 Lesson Blocks	137 hrs
Play the Part	N/A	3 Modules/30 Lessons	30 hrs

Rocket Japanese Play the Part is available for an additional cost. It’s essentially a 20 minute lesson meant for students with some knowledge of Japanese that want to practice real-world, practical conversations.

Whereas the Survival Kit lessons in the core package are great for bulking up your vocab, Play the Part is great for strengthening your knowledge of every-day Japanese culture and customs.

Rocket Japanese’s Play the Part lesson on Japanese table manners

They’re super helpful in preparing you for a trip (or move!) to Japan. With Play the Part, you’re essentially getting the inside scoop on what to expect when you arrive. I tried the Play the Part trial, but the dialogue was way too advanced for my complete beginner level. But I found the cultural explanations absolutely fascinating!

What a lesson is like on Rocket Japanese

An Interactive Audio Lesson from the first Module of Level 1

A Rocket Japanese lesson lasts for about 25 minutes and includes audio lessons, quizzes, and tons of study resources. 

You start by listening to a conversation in Japanese, followed by a slower version of the same dialogue. Then, the lesson provides vocabulary words and phrases to memorize. Finally, you get exercises on pronunciation, grammar, and usage. After completing a lesson, you can earn badges and points to track your progress. 

Rocket Japanese offers two main types of lessons: Interactive Audio Lessons and Language & Culture Lessons. Both lessons incorporate various activities, quizzes, practical situations, and feedback to reinforce learning and self-assessment. Each of the three Levels is broken up into seven Modules. Each Module has about four lessons of Interactive Audio Lessons and four lessons of Language & Culture Lessons.

Interactive Audio Lessons:

Designed to help students fine-tune their listening skills with the help of native dialogue and friendly English-language hosts. Focusing on pronunciation, vocabulary, and useful phrases, these lessons are perfect for on-the-go learning, allowing for flexibility and convenience.

Language & Culture Lessons:

These lessons teach the grammatical and syntax building blocks of the Japanese language. Each one ends with a discussion of cultural and social background for vocabulary related to real-life situations, providing a well-rounded learning experience.

Writing Lessons:

Because the Japanese writing system uses three separate writing systems that are all very distinct from English, Rocket Japanese features compact script lessons meant to quickly bring students up to speed on each one.

Apart from the main lessons, Rocket Japanese also includes themed lists of Survival Kit Phrases for each level. These phrases help students bulk up their vocabulary in specific topics, such as travel, dining, or meeting new people. Students can easily add these new vocabulary words and phrases to their saved vocabulary list.

What is the method behind Rocket Japanese?

Rocket Japanese, developed by Rocket Languages, adopts a practical approach to teaching, focusing on essential vocabulary and grammar.

It combines interactive audio lessons with grammar and language exercises, creating a comprehensive learning experience. This teaching methodology promotes active participation and interactive learning, ideal for those wanting to practice and learn Japanese at home.

Aiming to mimic an immersive learning environment, Rocket Japanese builds up grammar skills to ensure learners use their conversational abilities correctly. The adaptive learning feature helps improve pronunciation by providing feedback and corrections. 

Access to native Japanese speakers and cutting-edge voice recognition software further assists learners in developing an authentic Japanese accent. This friendly, informative, and conversational approach supports and engages learners throughout their language journey.

How I reviewed Rocket Japanese

I started with the trial version. But after seeing its potential, I sprang for the paid version to test out the full capabilities of the course. I used it intensively for about a week, exploring various aspects of the program.

I began my review with the Benchmark test even though I’m a complete beginner in Japanese. It consists of 100 questions that get harder as you progress. And after getting three answers wrong the test stops and gives you an overall score out of 100.

Screenshot of the Rocket Japanese Benchmark test

To get a feel for the content. I went through all types of lessons available: Interactive Audio Lessons, Language & Culture Lessons, Writing Lessons, and Survival Kit Phrases. This allowed me to experience the different teaching approaches and materials used in the course. 

I also made sure to go through all the study resources attached to each Interactive Audio Lesson. I’ll detail what those looked like below in the “Features” section below, if you’re curious.

Remember that you can always study with Rocket Japanese on the Rocket Languages mobile app. I tended to listen to the audio lessons with the app during my commute and while doing some chores around the house.

Rocket Japanese Pros

What is it about Rocket Japanese that students love so much? Here are some of its most attractive qualities:

Interactive Audio Lessons

One of the key strengths of Rocket Japanese is its interactive audio lessons. While there’s a strong emphasis on developing Japanese listening comprehension, the “interactive” component ensures you stay engaged. Beyond the gaps in the approximately 25-minute audios to repeat phrases and words, the “Play it!” section connected to the audio lesson keeps you actively involved. The audio lessons are perfect for listening via the app while on-the-go, making language learning convenient and flexible.

A key aspect of the audio clips is that you can either slow them down or speed them up, from 0.5x speed to 1.5x speed!

Best of Both Worlds

Rocket Japanese strikes the perfect balance between audio lessons and grammar/writing lessons. The audio lessons are informative, engaging, and great for taking on-the-go, while the Language & Culture Lessons and Writing Lessons ensure you understand the mechanics of the language and script. This comprehensive approach helps you develop a well-rounded understanding of Japanese, from pronunciation and vocabulary to grammar and cultural aspects.

Rocket Record

Rocket Record, Rocket Language’s voice recognition software developed in partnership with Google Web Speech API, is pretty incredible. It’s especially useful for an online language course, helping you develop your Japanese accent—a notoriously difficult task given those rolled r’s. I tested the language software by saying a completely different Japanese phrase than asked, and it correctly understood me (and thus awarded me a low score), showcasing its accuracy.

My attempt to trick Rocket Record with a sentence introducing myself as famed baseball player Ichiro Suzuki was rewarded with a low accent score for the sentence I was supposed to say

Easy, Medium, or Hard?

A standout feature of Rocket Japanese is the option to rate how easy, medium, or hard each Japanese phrase or word is for you to remember. This personalized approach makes it easy to identify words and phrases you struggle with and those you don’t need to focus on as much, ensuring efficient language learning.

Kanji Writing Tool

The Kanji Writing Tool makes it easy for students to learn how to write accurate kanji characters, which is super important for being able to navigate life in Japan.

The Kanji Writing Tool guides learners through each stroke and gives helpful feedback, ensuring they become comfortable with kanji writing. It’s a key part of the Rocket Japanese course for beginner students that are worried about this challenging script. This writing tool really sets Rocket Japanese apart from other online Japanese courses.

The Rocket Japanese Kanji Writing Tool to practice the stroke order of kanji characters

The Community Forum

As Aristotle said, “Man is a social animal.” Learning a language is inherently social, and Rocket Languages ensures you have access to fellow learners by providing a community forum. This platform allows you to ask and answer questions, exchange experiences, and connect with other students, creating a supportive and interactive learning environment.

Mobile App

The well-designed Rocket Languages app syncs your progress across all your devices, allowing for seamless language learning on-the-go. It’s ideal for downloading audio lessons and listening to them while commuting or traveling, although repeating words and phrases in public might be a bit challenging. Nonetheless, the app’s convenience and functionality make it an excellent resource for busy learners.

Screenshot from the mobile app, in the process of downloading Lesson 8.1 to my phone

Rocket Japanese Cons

After spending some time with Rocket Japanese, I must admit it took me a while to think of the downsides of using this language learning software. However, there are a few cons worth mentioning:

Lacks an Engaging Visual Component

One potential drawback of Rocket Japanese is the lack of engaging visuals. The course lessons contain no videos and almost no pictures. If you’re a visual learner who needs images or video content to stay engaged, this may be an obstacle for you. While the audio lessons and written materials are comprehensive, adding more visuals could enhance the overall learning experience.

May Not Be Appropriate for Advanced Learners Beyond JLPT N4

Rocket Japanese aims to bring its students up to a N4 level, meaning that it doesn’t include content at the N3 – N1 levels. While this is technically a limitation, it’s important to remember that an online learning course catering to advanced levels might be challenging to create. The technical definition of N4 is: “listen and comprehend conversations encountered in daily life and generally follow their contents, provided that they are spoken slowly.” 

As someone that has learned a few foreign languages, I’m pretty impressed that Rocket Japanese can get you to this point. Japanese is a tough nut to crack, but Rocket Languages will help you master the basics. I promise that this is the hardest part of learning a language. But once you know the basics, you’ll start to learn extremely quickly.

Benchmark Test Has Room for Growth

While it was nice to have a test to check my level of Japanese, I think there’s room for improvement. Instead of giving you a set of questions taken from each audio lesson’s attached “quiz” and assigning you a score based on how many of the 100 questions you got through, Rocket Languages should consider making it a more comprehensive assessment.

A test that rates you on the JLPT scale based on your knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures and tells you which Rocket Japanese level and Module to start at would be really helpful. I imagine that most of you have taken some middle school or high school Japanese and have some foundation of the language already.

Rocket Record

This might be confusing, because Rocket Record is included above as a pro. It’s obviously an incredibly impressive as a piece of software, but it does have limitations. For one, the automatic recording sometimes stops too early if you’re struggling to get the words out during “Know it!” exercises. I found this automatic “shut-off” a bit frustrating — until the automatic tool gets better, I’d prefer a manual off and on toggle. 

Beyond these glitches, it sometimes just takes a few tries to catch your words correctly, even though you say the same exact thing three times. It performs much better with phrases and full sentences, but this is something to be aware of when using Rocket Record. 

Finally, I found that it didn’t work with my Microsoft Edge browser, but I was able to get it to work with Chrome.

Who is Rocket Japanese for?

Rocket Japanese is suitable for a variety of learners, including:

• Beginners: With comprehensive lessons that start from the basics, Rocket Japanese is ideal for those who are new to the language. The course introduces essential vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation exercises to build a strong foundation.
• Tourists: This is a great way to quickly learn some survival Japanese (focus on Level 1 of Rocket Japanese and be sure to check out the Survival Phrases section).
• Intermediate Learners: The course offers plenty of advanced content aimed at improving conversational skills and refining grammar knowledge, making it perfect for intermediate learners.
• Self-Learners: Rocket Japanese’s self-paced structure and interactive approach make it an excellent choice for independent learners who prefer studying at their own pace.
• Busy Professionals: The mobile app and audio lessons allow for flexible learning on-the-go, catering to professionals with tight schedules.
• JLPT Accreditation Study: Rocket Japanese is designed to cater to the interests of students looking for JLPT certification. The course uses vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation exercises, and conversational drills to achieve the goals of different levels of the JLPT framework.

How much does Rocket Japanese cost?

Rocket Japanese offers a range of pricing plans to suit different budgets and learning needs. The platform’s pricing plans range from buying a single level to buying all three levels plus Rocket Japanese’s “Play the Part.”

The pricing options are a bit complicated, so I put together this table to give you a better idea of the pricing:

	Lifetime Access	6-Month Payment Plan
Any Single Level of Rocket Japanese	$89.95	N/A
Rocket Japanese 1 & 2	$239.90	N/A
Rocket Japanese 1, 2 & 3	$249.90	$44 / month
Japanese Play the Part Package	$59.98*	N/A

Figures accurate at the time of publishing

When you check the prices for Rocket Japanese, the coupon code “EARLYBIRD” was automatically added. It gives you anywhere from 17% – 42% off on the various packages — the prices in the chart reflect the deal, because the deal was always offered to me. For that reason, the prices above reflect the effective price of each package with the standard EARLYBIRD coupon code already included. The actual base price is much higher, but you would have to actively delete any coupon code that will already be in place, which just seems silly.

When you sign up for a trial, they also offer you a code that offers big savings. After a quick web search, though, I found a few other coupon codes that give even bigger savings (60% off the base price for every package, in one case!).

*For some reason there was no standard coupon code pre-included for the Play the Part package. But 15 seconds of searching rewarded me with tons of different coupon codes that gave 60% off, which this price reflects.

Is Rocket Japanese free?

Rocket Japanese provides a generous 6-day free trial, allowing you to get a taste of what the course has to offer before committing to a purchase. During this trial period, you’ll have access to a selection of lessons from each level:

• Level 1: You can explore 10 lessons, which include 3 hours and 12 minutes of content from Interactive Audio Lessons, Language & Culture Lessons, Writing Lessons, and Survival Kit Lessons.
• Level 2: The trial offers 3 lessons with an hour and 17 minutes of content, with one lessons available from each lesson type.
• Level 3: You’ll have access to 1 interactive audio lesson lasting 34 minutes.

While the free trial gives you a glimpse into the various levels and types of lessons available in Rocket Japanese, there are some limitations. For instance, you won’t have access to Rocket Certification or Rocket Recommends during the trial period. These features are exclusive to the full version of the course, providing additional tools and resources for learners.

Rocket Japanese Refund

If you buy one of the Rocket Japanese lifetime access packages, you are guaranteed a refund within 60 days of purchase — no questions asked!

Just email support@rocketlanguages.com that you want a refund, making sure to include your receipt number. They promise to process your refund within two working days, though it can take up to five days to see the refund on your statement.

If you choose the six-month subscription plan, you will not be able to get a refund. Instead, Rocket Japanese allows you to cancel your next monthly payment in this case.

Features of Rocket Japanese

Rocket Japanese provides combination lessons. They target listening comprehension and an understanding of the mechanics of Japanese to ensure you develop as a well-rounded Japanese speaker. 

Survival Kit Phrases help you quickly build your confidence in real-life conversations.

Rocket Japanese also gamifies the learning experience through leaderboard rankings and learning statistics. This encourages healthy competition, motivates you to stay consistent, and helps track your progress.

The Benchmark Test is a personalized assessment tool that evaluates your current Japanese proficiency. The test consists of 100 questions and helps identify your strengths and weaknesses. 

Rocket Japanese content is aligned with the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) for languages. Plus, it has a JLPT study tool that allows you to assess your progress on the JLPT scale and helps you study for a potential future accreditation.

One of my favorite features was the ability to easily save almost any word, phrase, or sentence that I came across on Rocket Japanese. This lets you review and reinforce your learning at any time.

Rocket Recommends provides personalized suggestions for additional resources and tools, such as articles, videos, and podcasts, to enhance your learning experience and complement the course content.

The community forum encourages discussion and collaboration among learners, fostering a supportive learning environment.

Rocket Japanese offers various active learning study aids that accompany lessons throughout all three Levels to reinforce your language skills and ensure a well-rounded learning experience.

Rocket Japanese active learning study aids

• Play It: To review core dialogue central by taking the place of one or both parts of the conversation
• Lesson Vocabulary: Practice key phrases and words from the lesson.
• Expert Tips: Eg. accepting corrections from natives and asking for tips to speak better.
• Flashcards: To better review lesson vocabulary.
• Hear it! Say it!: Recognize a Japanese vocab word from the lesson spoken by a native, and repeat it using Rocket Record voice, aiming for a 100% score on your accent.
• Write it!: Similar to “Hear it! Say it!,” but you write what you hear instead.
• Know it!: Given the written Japanese word or phrase, speak it into the mic. Rocket Record will assess whether you have said the correct word(s) with the correct accent.
• Sort it!: Improve your recognition and understanding of Japanese kanji or kana scripts.
• Quiz: Multiple choice questions about vocab and/or grammar related to the lesson.

The Play it! feature lets you step into a native conversation and take on the lines from one of the participants. You can see my accent scores to the left of each phrase block.

The quiz study resource ensures that you understand the main takeaways from each lesson

The Know it! study aid forces you to translate written English into spoken Japanese — a great drill for developing conversational fluency!

What languages can you learn with Rocket Japanese?

As the name suggests, Japanese is the only language you can learn with Rocket Japanese. But if you like the way Rocket Japanese works and want to learn another language, Rocket Languages offers 11 other foreign languages (not including two English courses).

The pricing is going to vary with the different languages, though, so heads up!

Alternatives to Rocket Japanese

There are a number of online Japanese learning websites available, and it can be difficult to know which one is the best fit for your needs. Here is a comparison of Rocket Japanese to other popular online Japanese learning websites:

Rosetta Stone Japanese vs Rocket Japanese

Rosetta Stone is well-known for its immersive approach to language learning, focusing on context and images to teach vocabulary and grammar. While this method can be engaging, it might not suit learners who prefer explicit explanations and a structured curriculum.

On the other hand, Rocket Japanese offers comprehensive lessons that combine interactive audio lessons with Language & Culture lessons, providing a more structured learning experience. It also includes a range of study aids and community support, which Rosetta Stone lacks.

If you prefer an immersive learning experience without explicit grammar explanations, Rosetta Stone might be a better fit. However, if you’re looking for a more structured and comprehensive approach, Rocket Japanese is an excellent choice.

Duolingo vs Rocket Japanese

Duolingo is a popular and free language learning app that gamifies the learning process, making it fun and engaging. However, Duolingo primarily focuses on vocabulary and basic grammar, which might not be sufficient for learners seeking more in-depth knowledge and conversational practice.

Rocket Japanese, while not free, offers a more comprehensive learning experience. It combines interactive audio lessons, Language & Culture lessons, and practical survival phrases, ensuring a well-rounded learning experience. 

So while Duolingo is great if you’re looking for a free and casual way to learn Japanese, you may not learn Japanese at the quickest rate. For students that are serious about achieving fluency and want a more comprehensive learning experience, Rocket Japanese will almost certainly be worth the investment.

Babbel vs Rocket Japanese

Babbel is a subscription-based language learning platform that offers a structured approach with lessons focused on real-life situations. While Babbel provides a solid foundation in vocabulary and grammar, its conversational practice opportunities are limited, which might hinder learners from developing strong speaking skills.

Rocket Japanese also offers a structured approach but places a greater emphasis on conversational practice through its interactive audio lessons and “Play it!” feature. Additionally, Rocket Japanese’s voice recognition software, Rocket Record, helps learners fine-tune their pronunciation, an aspect that Babbel doesn’t emphasize as much.

Essentially both Babbel and Rocket Japanese provide structured learning experiences. However, if your primary goal is to develop strong conversational skills and improve your pronunciation, Rocket Japanese has the edge.

By comparing Rocket Japanese with Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, and Babbel, we can see that each platform offers a unique approach to language learning. Ultimately, the best choice depends on your learning preferences, goals, and budget. But Rocket Japanese really stood out to me personally as a student looking to develop in a well-rounded form. 

What others have said

To make this the best Rocket Japanese review possible, I went to Reddit to see how some past students felt Rocket Japanese impacted their learning experience.

“It's a all in one package with listen, speaking, writing, reading exercises. The explanations are nice but I would still use some free resources as supplemental stuff. The voice recognition on the speaking exercise are not as good as you might think… It's beneficial when you speak or read out loud though.” - Reddit Rocket Japanese review 

I think this comment includes several nuggets worth highlighting. First, they stress that using a variety of learning resources is key for a complete language learning experience. Rocket Japanese will provide a course-like structure to your learning, but that doesn’t mean you should stop there. 

As you progress in Japanese, try adding on free extra resources like YouTube videos, podcasts, or language exchange apps to cover all aspects of the language. This method allows students to explore different viewpoints, teaching methods, and materials, which strengthens their understanding and helps them remember better.

Also, the commenter recognizes that while Rocket Record’s voice recognition feature might not always be perfect, its true value is in motivating learners to practice speaking. Speaking practice is crucial for mastering any language, as it builds confidence, improves pronunciation, and develops conversational skills. 

Any tool that helps you feel more at ease with foreign words and pronunciation is doing its job, even if it isn’t perfect.

“Another thing I found super helpful in Rocket Japanese is that they include literal translations. For me, these were incredibly helpful in understanding grammatical differences between english and japanese. I’m actually surprised more courses and resources don’t do this.” - Reddit Rocket Japanese review 

Rocket Japanese offers both literal and semantic translations for each word and phrase. This is beneficial for learners who may be struggling to grasp certain language concepts. Literal translations provide a word-for-word translation of the Japanese text, while semantic translations provide a more natural and idiomatic translation. This can help learners to understand the meaning of the text in a more comprehensive way. 

Rocket Japanese’s commitment to providing users with a well-rounded and accessible learning experience is evident in its offering of both literal and semantic translations. This allows learners to choose the translation that best suits their needs and learning style.

Conclusion: Is Rocket Japanese worth it?

After thoroughly exploring Rocket Japanese I can say that I wholeheartedly approve of Rocket Japanese!

It offers a well-rounded learning experience that covers all the bases: listening comprehension, grammar, and writing skills. With its interactive lessons, engaging audio content, and helpful community forum, it’s perfect for beginners and intermediate learners who want to practice and learn Japanese at home. 

The kanji writing tool is a game-changer, helping you master the stroke order of those intricate characters, while the mobile app ensures you can practice anytime, anywhere – perfect for busy professionals and on-the-go learners.

It’s light on flashy visual aids, but the wealth of study resources are more than enough.

Rocket Japanese is tailored for students aiming for JLPT certification, covering levels N5 to N4. While advanced learners may find the content a bit limited, beginners and intermediates will appreciate the comprehensive approach to launching your adventure into the Japanese language.

If you’re still a bit unsure whether Rocket Japanese is right for you, remember that the free trial and 60-day refund period make Rocket Japanese virtually risk-free! There’s really no reason not to give it a shot if you’re curious.

In conclusion, if you’re looking for a Japanese course that will help you go from zero to hero, look no further than Rocket Japanese. For me, it struck the perfect balance between quality content, effective teaching methods, and an engaging user experience.

So take the plunge and embrace the aesthetics of Japanese culture and language with Rocket Japanese. さようなら、また会いましょう!

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Rocket Japanese FAQs