Rocket Korean Review: Is It Worth It? (Price and Alternatives)

Rocket Korean Overview

Rocket Korean is one of the many language courses created by Rocket Languages. It uses mostly audio lessons, with some written lessons, to teach beginner Korean. The audio lessons cover vocabulary and other important phrases, and the written lessons teach grammar and culture. The lessons are useful and easy to follow. There are also lessons to help you learn Hangeul, the Korean writing system. The lessons are good, but there are few practice activities outside of what’s provided with the lessons.

Thanks to K-Pop and successful Korean movies and tv shows, Korean language and culture is becoming more prevalent worldwide. With the increasing popularity of Korean culture, maybe you’ve thought of learning this language. Rocket Korean is a good place for beginners to start. The entire course consists of 7 modules and a Survival Kit that teaches essential Korean vocabulary. The lessons are good, but won’t be very useful if you already know some Korean.

Rocket Korean Price

Rocket Korean doesn’t offer a monthly subscription like most apps do. You have to buy the entire level of Rocket Korean. You get lifetime access to the Rocket Korean course for $149.95. If buying the entire course at once doesn’t fit into your budget, you can pay in 6 monthly installments of $27.00, for a total price of $162.00.

Rocket Korean is one of the more expensive options, but there are many cheaper alternatives. If you want to pay for a monthly subscription, Memrise, Lingodeer, and Drops are good choices. Pimsleur is another app that makes you pay for the level upfront, and it’s also an expensive option. There are a few apps that you can access free content with such as KoreanClass101 and Duolingo.

Rocket Korean Free Trial

Rocket Korean offers a 7-day free trial to test the lessons and features. You do not have to enter any credit card information to start. The trial is limited compared to other apps. You can only access the first 3 audio lessons, language & culture lessons, and writing lessons

Rocket Korean Discount

Rocket Korean offers many discounts, so you don’t need to pay full price. When I created my account, I was offered an EARLYBIRD discount to but the level during the trial period. Even if you don’t buy Rocket Korean right away, they are constantly offering discount codes, so keep your eye out.

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

Setting up my account with Rocket Korean was very easy and took less than 2 minutes. Because there is only one level, there are no placement tests. When I logged in, the lessons were clearly displayed and I could see which lesson I should start with. Although setting up my account was easy, learning Korean is a difficult language. Let’s see if Rocket Korean can help overcome some of the common challenges that language learners face.

Challenge #1: Beginning a New Language

Rocket Korean was designed for beginners. The lessons start from the very beginning and explain everything in English. There are also practice activities for each lesson so you can practice what you just learned. The lessons are separated into audio conversations, grammar, and writing. I was intimidated to learn the Korean writing system (Hangeul), but the writing lessons showed me that it’s not too difficult if you practice and stick with it.

Challenge #2: Learning & Remembering New Words

Rocket Korean places a strong importance on learning vocabulary. For beginners, you can start with the Survival Kit that teaches essential words and phrases such as colors, transportation, and food vocabulary. There are many ways to practice the new words you learn in the lessons, through listening, writing, and standard flashcard memorization.

However, once you learn the words, you have to go back into the lessons to practice them again because Rocket Korean doesn’t use any algorithms or spaced repetition exercises that help you review words before you forget them.

Challenge #3: Understanding & Speaking to Native Speakers

Because each audio lesson features a conversation between two native speakers, it’s easy to start understanding Korean. There are also tons of audio clips in the lesson activities so you can hear what is being said. You can replay just the dialogue and also hear the correct pronunciation of the vocabulary words and phrases.

Rocket does a decent job of trying to incorporate speaking, which is difficult when learning with an app. The teacher encourages you to repeat at different points during the lesson. You can also practice the dialogue by playing one of the characters. There are even voice recognition ratings when you speak the phrases, but I’m not sure it’s very accurate.

Challenge #4: Making Language Learning a Routine

Unlike apps such as Duolingo or Mondly, Rocket Korean doesn’t have many gaming aspects to motivate you to learn. They do have a leaderboard and you accumulate points, but nothing happens if you miss a day or two of logging in.

Rocket does provide some useful tips about how to approach the lessons so you can get the most out of them. It recommends listening to each lesson more than once and visualizing your language learning goals to keep you motivated.

Rocket Korean Review: Overall Learning Experience & Areas of Improvement

Overall, Rocket Korean is a good tool to start learning Korean, though it might not be the best. The lessons were easy to understand, and I was even getting the hang of writing thanks to the Hanguel lessons (but I still need more practice!).

I like that there are different types of lessons. Listening to the conversations was good for learning vocabulary, and I liked that the grammar lessons were written so it was easy for me to read and see the examples.

But the practice activities with each lesson did become a bit repetitive. It looks like there are many different activities to help you practice Korean, but in the end, you are practicing with the same words and phrases over and over again. But if you complete all the activities for each lesson, you’ll definitely remember the words!

My biggest complaint about the Rocket Korean course is the amount of content you get for the price. First of all, I prefer to pay a monthly subscription rather than pay for everything at once. Second, there are very few additional features offered outside the lessons. Most other apps, such as LingoDeer and Duolingo, provide additional resources, such as dictionaries, grammar banks, or stories.

And because there is only one level, Rocket Korean won’t be helpful if you already know some Korean. There are other apps, such as KoreanClass101 and Rosetta Stone that have more material for intermediate and advanced learners.

Rocket Korean Alternatives and Competitors

If you think that Rocket Korean isn’t the right app for you, there are many other alternatives to get you speaking Korean. Two similar apps are KoreanClass101 and Pimsleur. If you want to learn more vocabulary, I like to use Drops and Memrise. Since practicing speaking is difficult on an app, there are platforms like italki and HelloTalk that connect you with a native speaker. Talk To Me In Korean is a popular app to help practice grammar, and Write It! Korean is a free app that helps you practice writing.

Rocket Korean vs Rosetta Stone

Rocket Korean and Rosetta Stone have different lesson styles. While Rocket uses longer audio lessons that give great detail, Rosetta Stone uses quick and interactive lessons that take less than ten minutes. Because of the lesson styles, Rocket is better for having a deeper understanding of the language, and Rosetta Stone is better for learning a few important words and phrases before a trip. Use the trial for both apps to see which one fits better with your learning style. You can also read more about Rosetta Stone in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Korean vs Pimsleur

Pimsleur and Rocket Korean place a strong emphasis on listening and repeating with the correct pronunciation. They use longer, audio-style lessons that feature a native speaker. Rocket lessons are more conversational and involve interchange between the different teachers, but Pimsleur lessons are straightforward and get to the point quickly without extra chit-chat. Like Rocket, Pimsleur has you pay by the level, but they also offer a monthly subscription if you prefer that. I like the Rocket Korean lessons more, but Pimsleur is a better deal for the price. The choice is up to you! You can also read more about Pimsleur in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Korean vs KoreanClass101

KoreanClass101 is very similar to Rocket Korean. Both use audio lessons and conversations between native speakers. There is also a strong focus on culture. But KoreanClass101 has 5 levels with tons of content included in each level, and Rocket Korean currently only has one. Rocket Korean you pay upfront for the entire course, and KoreanClass101 offers monthly subscriptions. I prefer KoreanClass101 because it’s better for advanced levels and has more content. If you are interested in KoreanClass101, you can read more about it in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Korean vs Glossika

Similar to Rocket Korean, Glossika teaches the language through listening to words and phrases in natural sentences. It also has a strong focus on listening and speaking and uses voice rating software. Glossika only has one type of activity, flashcards that help you listen and repeat the phrase. Rocket Korean uses a variety of lesson types, such as audio, reading, and short videos. Glossika’s monthly price is one of the most expensive out there. I recommend Rocket Korean to get an all-around approach to learning Korean and to practice all of the skills. If you want to know more about Glossika, you can read about it in this review or try it for free by clicking the button below.

Rocket Korean Review FAQ

About This Rocket Korean Review

This is an independent Rocket Korean review, and the company has not sponsored this article. To write this review, I used the free trial to 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.