Rocket Languages Review

Monday, January 13th

2025 Korean Lesson Reviews

Rocket Languages

• Free (limited) guest access
• One-time cost of $149.95 ($99.95 with promo pricing) or 6 monthly payments of $27 ($19 with promo pricing)
• 7 modules with 12-14 lessons in each one (plus an intro module)
• Each module includes four interactive audio lessons, four to six language and culture lessons (which also include grammar), and four to six writing lessons (to learn the Korean alphabet)
• Best suited to beginners
• 60-day money-back guarantee

Embarking on your Korean language journey? Whether you're an employee seeking to enhance your skills or an individual eager to explore a new language, Rocket Languages has been a go-to platform for many, including corporate giants like Pentel and Deloitte. From homeschoolers to aspiring polyglots, learners of all backgrounds have found Rocket Korean to be a fun and effective resource for mastering the basics of the language.

One-off cost for Korean lessons, no subscription required

Before we get into the structure of the Korean lessons at Rocket, let's get the money part out of the way. One big difference with Rocket Korean is the fact that it's a one-time payment: no subscription necessary. You can opt to pay the one-time fee in six monthly installments, but that will be the end of your billing. If you tend to be one of those people who subscribes to things and then pays for it for a long time because you forgot about it. Rocket Languages might save you some money in the long run. Although you'll be given a "limited time offer” for the pricing here, we've found that Rocket Korean is always priced with the same deal: $99.95 or six installments of $19/month.

60-day money-back guarantee

Also, when you give Rocket Korean your name and email address, you'll get access to a free trial with several sample lessons. But, let's say you try the sample, pay for the complete program, but then you decide it's not what you were imagining. No problem. As long as you make that call within 60 days, Rocket Languages will give you a full refund, no questions asked.

8 modules + Survival Kit lessons

Now that that's settled, here's what you can expect from Rocket Korean's lessons. All of the learning here is considered part of Level 1: nothing that goes beyond a beginner level of study. There are 8 total modules in Rocket Korean, including the Intro, all with a mix of audio instruction, language and culture lessons, and writing lessons. There's also a "Survival Kit” section that walks you through vocabulary and conversations you might need to have sooner rather than later (like parts of the body, days and dates, and "Korean food at its best”). You can move around among and within modules as you like, but they tend to work best if you follow them sequentially.

Learn to read, speak, write, and understand Korean

Rocket Korean's lessons will let you work through all modalities, and we especially like the Rocket Record tool that lets you speak and compare your accent with that of a native speaker. And, when you work on the conversations modeled in the lessons, you can choose to speak the conversation as either of the people featured, or practice the entire exchange from start to finish. You'll see both the Hangeul and Romanized letters, along with the English translation underneath: Rocket Korean doesn't expect you to just "figure it out”, since that's a really uncomfortable thing for many language learners.

Practice everything before a short quiz

And, you'll have reinforcement of what you learn throughout each lesson of the module. On most sections, that looks like flashcards plus speaking and listening practice, ended by a short quiz. That applies whether you're understanding how "Thanking and Apologizing” works or learning how to get around Seoul.

A few limitations to be aware of

All of that being said, there are a few things you won't get if you choose Rocket Korean for your studies. First off, the content is relatively static: although there seem to be more modules than when we previously evaluated these Korean lessons, you shouldn't expect there to be anything that teaches you the language as it relates to current events, the latest slang, or vocabulary from the most recent song released by your favorite K-pop group. Sorry. You also won't get interaction with other learners, and that means no leaderboards, no competitions, no community forums. Finally, as we mentioned, this is a language platform designed for beginning-level mastery of the Korean language; if you've already had more than a year or two of experience, you may not find anything on Rocket that can take you to the next fluency level.

We recommend it for beginners

Still, there are many reasons that we're fans of Rocket Korean. Their lessons are truly suited for beginners, walking them gently through what there is to know about the language and culture (with some humor along the way). And, with a one-time fee and lifetime access, you're not going to feel like you wasted your money if you're not diligently following a schedule: Rocket Korean is there when you want it, quietly waiting in the background for you to be ready for your next lesson. All it takes is your name and email address, and you can give Rocket Languages a try.