Rocket Italian Review: An Honest Look at Pros & Cons

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Rocket Italian Overview

There are many reasons to learn Italian. Maybe you are planning a trip to Rome or want to talk to your nonna in her native language. Whatever the reason, in this Rocket Italian review we’ll take a look at this popular app to see if it’s a good way to help you parlare italiano.

Rocket Italian is one of the many language courses in the Rocket Languages family. The course uses audio lessons that use dialogues between native Italian speakers. You practice along with the lesson by listening and repeating. There are also practice activities you can complete after you listen. You can access the lessons on the online platform or mobile app, and can even download them for offline listening.

Rocket Italian has 3 levels that take you from beginner to an upper-intermediate/advanced level. Rocket states that its focus is on everyday Italian and to get you speaking as fast as possible, so it might be a better course for someone looking to travel or live in Italy than someone who needs to take a test in Italian or is studying in school. Rocket Italian places more emphasis on understanding the language as a whole, rather than specific words and grammar topics.

Rocket Italian Price

There are 3 levels you can buy, and there is no discount for buying multiple levels at one time. Rocket Italian level 1 costs $149.95. Level 1 & 2 cost $299.90. Levels 1, 2, & 3 cost $449.85. There is no monthly subscription available, but Rocket does offer a 6-month payment plan to pay for the levels. If you aren’t happy with the course, there is a 60-day money-back guarantee, and Rocket will refund your money.

Although the price seems expensive at first, Rocket constantly offers discounts so you don’t need to pay the full price. I was even offered a discount of 60%, which would give me all 3 levels for $179.94. That’s not a bad deal for the complete course. However, without any discount, I did get a bit of sticker shock when I saw the prices.

The majority of language apps offer monthly subscriptions. Apps like Babbel, ItalianPod101, and Busuu offer inexpensive monthly options, that are usually cheaper if you buy more months at once. There are even some free apps like Duolingo and Clozemaster.

Rocket Italian Free Trial

Rocket Italian offers a 7-day free trial that gives you access to a few lessons from each level so you can test the app to see if you like it. In level 1, you can try 6 lessons, but there are only 2 lessons available in levels 2 & 3. There is a new Travelogue Series, and the trial gives you access to the first 4 lessons.

Rocket Italian Discount

Rocket Languages always has discounts available. When I created my account, I was offered a discount if I purchased the course immediately. Since I started using Rocket Italian close to a holiday, I was offered a special holiday discount that was automatically applied. There is no need to pay full price because there are always discounts available.

Rocket Italian Review: How It Can (or Can’t) Help You

To get started learning with Rocket Italian, you only have to enter your name and email address. There are no placement tests so you can choose which level you want to start with. All the lessons are laid out in an easy-to-follow order so you can easily tell where to start. You have the option to jump around lessons if you want. I liked mixing the more interesting audio lessons with the written Language & Culture lessons that explain important grammar topics.

It took less than 30 seconds to get started with Rocket Italian. But actually learning Italian proved to be more difficult. There are certain challenges that many language learners face. Let’s take a look to see if Rocket Italian is an effective app for conquering these difficulties.

Challenge #1: Beginning a New Language

Rocket Languages creates its courses with beginners in mind. In my opinion, the Rocket courses are a good way to start learning a new language. The lessons are easy to understand because everything is clearly explained. There is also a written transcript of the lessons that I used when listening because I’m more of a visual learner.

Each lesson covers a good amount of material, but not too much. I was never overwhelmed. I tried the lessons using the technique that Rocket suggests. I listened to every lesson twice and completed all the practice activities. It took a long time, but I felt that I was understanding the material.

Challenge #2: Learning & Remembering New Words

Rocket Italian has a lot of activities to practice vocabulary. Every lesson includes a vocabulary list of words and phrases that are in the lesson. I like that there’s an audio clip of each word or phrase which helped practicing the pronunciation. Within each lesson, you can practice the vocabulary words with flashcards, by writing them, and by listening to them. After I completed all the practice activities, I felt that I knew the words backward and forward.

My only complaint about learning the new vocabulary is that there isn’t a good way to review the words you already learned. It’s possible to add some vocabulary words to a Saved Vocabulary list, but it’s not a great system. And since Rocket seems to emphasize teaching phrases over specific words, I thought it was silly that I could only save individual words, but not the phrases, to my vocabulary list. If you are looking for other apps that teach vocabulary in a more organized manner, I prefer Drops and Memrise.

Challenge #3: Understanding & Speaking to Native Speakers

Unless you are using a platform like italki or Verbling that connects you with a real Italian teacher, it’s difficult to practice speaking with an app. But Rocket Italian does a good job of offering as much speaking practice as possible.

In each audio lesson, I was prompted to repeat after the teacher and imitate their pronunciation and intonation. The teacher stated the importance of practicing out loud many times during the first few lessons. You can also play along with the dialogue and act out one of the parts of the speakers. There are voice recognition ratings that give you a score on how you said the phrase, but it’s not the most accurate measure of your spoken Italian.

Challenge #4: Making Language Learning a Routine

Rocket courses are very straightforward and don’t use a lot of gimmicks and games like other apps do, such as Duolingo and Mondly. I like the gaming aspect of these apps and I feel like they help motivate me to take another lesson, but receiving too many notifications can be annoying.

In the end, Rocket makes you responsible for your learning process. They include some helpful tips along the way to help guide you in setting your language learning routine and how to effectively use the course. There are also a few tracking features, such as points, streaks, and leaderboards that give you a little push to keep learning.

Rocket Italian Review: Overall Learning Experience

Overall, I enjoyed using Rocket Italian. The audio lessons were engaging, and when I got bored, I could switch to a Language & Culture lesson that was mostly written and practice grammar. Rocket recommends listening to each lesson twice, and I agree that I picked up more during the second listen.

I also like that there are many practice activities associated with each lesson. They start to get a little repetitive because they are mostly practicing vocabulary, but they are useful to memorize some important words and phrases.

If you are planning to take a trip to Italy, the Survival Kit is especially useful because its lessons teach important words and phrases such as countries, colors, and food vocabulary.

I also liked the Travelogue series which is a new series that is focused on improving your listening and understanding skills. As an Italian beginner, the lessons were a little too difficult for me, but If I were a low-intermediate, I think I would benefit from these lessons because they’re entirely in Italian.

Rocket Italian Review: Areas of Improvement

Rocket Italian is a good tool for learning Italian, but some areas could be improved. Many people complain that the course is too expensive. Since you have to pay for the entire level, or levels, upfront, it can be costly. Most apps, such as Duolingo or MosaLingua, have a monthly subscription which makes the price seem more reasonable. Remember to look for a discount before purchasing!

As I continued to learn and progress, I became a little bored with the lessons. They all follow the same style, using a native English speaker to explain everything and one or two Italian speakers to pronounce the words. Even the practice activities after the lessons became quite repetitive. Most other apps, such as Babbel and Mondly, offer more variety and choices, but Rocket Italian only includes what can be accessed with each lesson, making it a very structured program.

Rocket Italian Alternatives and Competitors

Rocket Italian is a good choice for beginning to learn the language, but there are many alternatives available. If you want an app that focuses on learning vocabulary, Drops or Clozemaster might be good options. If you want to practice speaking and conversation, platforms like italki or Verbling can help connect you with a native speaker. If you don’t want to pay for the entire level upfront, you can try some apps with a monthly subscription like Mondly, MosaLingua, or FluentU.

Rocket Italian vs Pimsleur

Rocket Italian and Pimsleur are similar because they both have audio lessons that emphasize speaking and pronunciation. In my opinion, the conversations in Rocket Italian sound more natural than those in Pimsleur. If you pay upfront for Pimsleur, it’s much more expensive than Rocket, but Pimsleur offers a monthly subscription alternative. I prefer Rocket Italian to Pimsleur because the lessons kept my attention more. If you are interested in Pimsleur, you can read more about it in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Italian vs Babbel

Rocket Italian and Babbel have different lesson styles. Babbel has shorter, interactive lessons that teach words and phrases quickly and easily. Rocket Italian lessons go more in-depth into the language to explain why things are said the way they are. Babbel offers a monthly subscription, so it’s the cheaper option if you go through the lessons regularly. I like Babbel because the lessons are short and quick and fit my learning style. If you want to learn more about Babbel, you can check out this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Italian vs ItalianPod101

Rocket Italian and ItalianPod101 are very similar. They both have audio lessons with detailed transcripts that help you understand and practice Italian. ItalianPod101 offers a monthly subscription and has levels that go from absolute beginner to advanced. I like ItalianPod101 more because there are many additional resources available. You can read more about ItalianPod101 in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Italian vs Duolingo

Rocket Italian takes a different approach to language learning than Duolingo. Duolingo is one of the most well-known language learning apps available, and for good reason. They offer free content as well as an inexpensive paid subscription. They gamify every aspect of language learning to make it fun. However, Rocket Italian is a more serious app that focuses on the most important parts of learning the language, even if they aren’t the most fun to learn. I recommend using the free trial for both apps to see which one fits your learning style. You can also read more about Duolingo in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Italian Review FAQ

About This Rocket Italian Review

This is an independent Rocket Italian review, and the company has not sponsored this article. To write this review, I used the free trial of the app and used it for a few hours to thoroughly test its content and features. I also found additional information on the Rocket Languages website to verify my findings.