Rocket German Learning Lounge – The New Way To Use Rocket German

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Rocket German is a popular self study learn German course. The initial course was something you could download and use on your PC or even download the audio files and listen to them on an mp3 or CD player whenever you wanted.

This was/is great for flexibility and freedom but in the end the continued motivation to learn was very much down to the individual. They couldn’t receive encouragement and effectively “share” the learning experience with other people. To this extent, this is the motivation behind creating the Rocket German learning lounge. This article will go into what the learning lounge is all about and be a Rocket German review of sorts.

Rocket German Review

As far as I can see, the content of the actual Rocket German course hasn’t changed since they created the learning lounge. It’s just delivered differently and there is more incentive to go to the “lounge” to do your learning. The content still has the audio files with Paul talking his way through Germany. And you also get the pdf downloads and the mega games.

What has changed is that the audios can be used online when in the lounge. When you finish a particular audio, it is marked as finished and in this way you can see that you are progressing through the course. This might just be psychological but to see that you are 63 % through may keep you going.

Also, at the end of each lesson block, you have multiple choice tests which you answer and get scored on. This is feedback on your learning and can also motivate you and even give you confidence that you are moving in the right direction with your German language skills.

There are also bigger tests at the end of a section of lessons. These are major tests with upwards of 70 to 80 questions on the things you have just learned. It should give you a good idea of whether you understand what you are learning. And this should give you confidence if you pass the tests or make you decide to retake the lessons if you fail. Whatever the outcome, it is great feedback that most people need when learning something new.

Connect With Other Learners

Another feature of the learning lounge is that there is a forum. The forum is fairly active and the course creators is on their occasionally. The aim of the forum is to get a community feel going as you learn German. So you can talk to people going through the same problems as you. You can even ask advice of people more advanced than you. The idea is to share the load and make the whole learning experience more engaging. When you are engaged in learning a new task, it doesn’t seem to bad or overwhelming.

Practice Your Pronunciation

Another aspect of the learning lounge which is more recent in the Rocket Record system. This is a graphical representation of how to say words or sentences. The graph of a native German speaker is shown and then you are asked to record your attempt at the word or sentence.

You attempt is mapped in the same graphical display so that you can see how it differs from the native speaker. The aim is to practice saying the words so that your graphic looks the same as the native speaker. In that way, you can perfect your accent.

This type of system to perfect pronunciation is used in many learn language courses nowadays and probably represents the next best thing to actually watching a native speaker speak.

Other Learning Tools In The Learning Lounge

Two other features of the learning lounge are the my Vocab tool and Your Motivation section.

my Vocab is a tool that allows you to click on any words that you encounter in the course and write your own meanings and notes on the word. If the word is already in the course, the audio of the word will also be added to the my vocab system. So you can build up a bank of vocabulary and go through it from time to time

Your Motivation is another section of the course that basically gives you  advice on how to learn a new language. It provides support, advice and motivation – it is your language coach so to speak.

It discusses things like what kind of learner you are, developing a plan to get fluent or conversational in your chosen language, building confidence, improving memory, top tips for learning your language.

For instance, for improving memory it gives you a few aphorisms to learn by, such as “use it or lose it”. This is so true when learning a new language. If you say a word or phrase out loud you will remember it. If you say it out loud to another person you will definitely remember it. This process kind of hard wires the words into the brain and it may surprise you how much the brain can take in.

In the top tips it points out that thinking in German is ultimately the way to go. There is a certain rhythm or tempo to speaking and having to translate into English and back to German every time you have a conversation is a constipated way of conversing.

Of course you can’t be thinking in German right off the bat but this is what you want to be progressing towards – your goal so to speak. To this extent, when you have a dream in German or parts of it are in German, you know you are really making progress.

Summary

On the whole I think the learning lounge makes the Rocket German course better. It makes it more engaging and helps to motivate the student. This is often a major problem for people with self study course as they lose motivation half way through or go onto something else.

>>> Go to the official Rocket German website here <<<

How The Rocket German Audio Course Works

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The audio part of a language learning course is probably the most important part in my opinion, because it is aimed at teaching you how to speak in German (and understand people speaking to you in German). Ultimately, this is why you want to learn a new language – to speak to people. Being able to speak in German to German speaking people is not only the point of learning the language but it serves to motivate you and makes you learn faster.

For instance, if you can communicate your thoughts and feelings about a certain topic in German to German people and then listen to their response, you will be energized by your achievement and this will keep you studying. And once you can communicate in German at a fairly good level, without feeling self conscious, then your learning will really take shape. When you get to this stage you will be learning just by talking to people and it will stop being such a struggle. The quicker you get to this stage the better, if you want to progress to fluency in German.

I think the Rocket German audio course is very good. It comprises 31 lessons of around 15-30 minutes in length. The audio quality is good and can be transferred to a CD or MP3 player so that you can listen to it anywhere that is convenient.

The basic format of each lesson is a scene involving the narrator of the course and her native German speaking friend as they travel through Germany.

So for example, they might be booking into a hotel. They will go through the typical things you would say doing this and some other questions you might ask when checking in.

After the conversation, the lesson works through all the phrases that were said. It explains new words, how the grammar works and how you would pronounce the phrases and sentences.

The narrator is an English speaking person and she will guide the teaching and explain concepts and meanings of German words. She has a slightly quirky sense of humor but you get used to it after a while or maybe she tones it down a little as you get into the lessons.

The native German speaker (Paul, the creator of the course) speaks all the German 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 is much like the Pimsleur method of teaching pronunciation. It breaks down each word to the syllable so that it is easy to copy the German pronunciation. It can be a little slow going but it is a good way to ensure you have a decent accent.

Paul (the native German speaker) says all the sentences once and then pauses so that you can say the sentence aloud. They stress at the beginning of the course that this is the only way to do it if you want to be successful. I tend to agree with them on this point. Only by saying something out loud will it sink into your head. Saying it repeatedly will ensure it stays there and can be recalled when you need it.

At the end of each lesson the narrator summarizes the main points of the lesson. They may run through parts of the original conversation again and ask you questions. The questions generally try to include parts of the previous lessons along with the new stuff.

The course is advertised as an interactive course. What this means is that you must say the words or sentences out aloud when instructed by the narrator. For instance, if the narrator asks a question, there will be a pause that allows you to answer, then the native German speaker will give the correct answer.

This is a good audio course that starts with the basics like meeting and greeting and goes through to more complicated sentences and scenarios as you travel round Germany. I think the course will give you more confidence to speak to real German people, which is half the battle when it comes to becoming fluent in a new language.

>>> Go to the official Rocket German website now <<<

Rocket German Review

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What is Rocket German ?

Rocket German is a German learning course. Unlike many other courses, it can be downloaded over the Internet. It took me about 25 minutes to download it with a broadband connection. You can also download it with a dial-up connection but this would take more time I imagine. You can also get a hard copy version shipped to you but this is far more expensive than the download version and the content of both the download and hard copy are the same.

This is what you get with Rocket German :

An Audio Course
An Interactive PDF course
3 educational games
Access to a forum

Extensive Testing (mainly multiple choice)

Practice Pronunciation Tool (Rocket Record)

Follow up lessons from time to time

The rest of this review will cover the Interactive PDF course as the other components are covered in other posts.

What level is Rocket German ?

The courses caters for beginners. It will take beginners through to intermediate levels and onto an advanced knowledge of the German language.

How does it teach German ?

The course comprises 31 lessons.

The first 15 lessons deal with the basics of the German language

The next 10 lessons are intermediate level and build on the technical aspects of the language.

The last 6 lessons are more complex and start to tie in all the information you have learned from the previous lessons.

Each lesson deals with the same topic as the corresponding audio lesson.

Each lesson can take around 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 ?

The topics of the lesson are introduced along with any new German words. The student will read through the introduction. Any German words can be clicked on and the audio for the word will be heard. The the word is clicked you will hear the English equivalent, then the German. Then there is a pause and the German is spoken again. This gives the student a chance to speak the German and practice what he/she is learning.

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

A variety of written and multiple choice type exercises conclude each lesson.

The Random button can be pressed at any time and a German 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 give the student a bit of control over the lesson.

Any other teaching methods used ?

The three games are accessed through the PDF course :

MegaVocab – vocabulary recognition, match one of 6 pictures to a word picked at random by the software
MegaVerbs – verb conjugation, conjugate a verb in the correct person and tense. There are 20 questions within each game and the software can select any verbs it has in the system.
MegaAudio – comprehension, listen to audio of a word or sentence and guess which of the 4 pictures represent the audio.

You can use these games simply as a bit of fun or you can consolidate any knowledge that you have gained in the lessons.

A set of flashcards are also provided. These are a set of pictures with the German/English meaning underneath. There are 250 of these cards and they need to be printed out to use.

What is good about the course ?

The course builds from beginner to advanced. It will give the student a complete grasp of the German Language at the end of the course.

The verb conjugation game is useful, as learning the forms of the verbs can get quite boring and tedious. The game can alleviate this boredom.

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 game are not always intuitively clear about the meaning. This can make guessing the words quite difficult at times. The English word can be displayed if this happens but doing this makes it too easy.

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 ?

The Survival kit is another 13 lessons on phrases, words, and essential grammar in the German language that you might need if you were traveling in Germany or another German speaking country. It pared down to be just the things you need to get by.

A good way to get a taster of the course and how it works is to try the free 6 day course. It should help you decide if Rocket German is for you and you will learn a bit of German along the way.

Once you have bought the course, you will be sent the Rocket German newsletter every fortnight. The newsletter has a new lesson in each issue.

Summary

I think the Rocket German course represents good value. You get an Audio and Ebook course and 3 software games. The forum and follow ups can help you to get help and stay motivated as you learn. Although it is not easy learning a new language, Rocket German can certainly make the task easier provided you are consistent and focused about learning German.

>>> Go to the Rocket German website now <<<

Rocket German VS Transparent German Complete Edition

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Are you planning a trip to Germany? Have you some business to do over there? Or do you just want to speak the language for the heck of it? Whatever reason you have for learning German, the very first step is choosing the right program.

To narrow down your search, here are two language learning programs that are definitely worth checking out. Rocket German VS Transparent German Complete Edition.

Rocket German Approach

The people behind Rocket German believe that people learn a language best the way they first learned their mother tongue. The natural method, which is also referred to as the interactive conversational approach, will have you understanding and speaking German before you can read and write the language – just like when you were young. So, even if you have never spoken a single German word in your entire life, you will partake in a German conversation at your very first class.

Transparent German Complete Edition Approach

Transparent German, on the other hand, has a totally different approach. The people behind this program believe that if you want to speak German fluently, you must also know how to read and write German. This highly modular method is jam packed with features that are designed to help you utilize all of your skills, and not just listening comprehension and speaking.

Rocket German Tools

Although Rocket German mainly focuses on listening comprehension and speaking, this program is filled with features and tools that your two guides, Sandra and Mathias, will help you out with every step of the way.

With the package, you will get 31 audio lessons that last 20 minutes each. These primarily cover highly interactive conversations in German that you actually take part in. So basically you will have 11 hours of casual everyday German conversations that are actually very useful since these topics focus on asking directions, ordering in a restaurant, and the like.

Since all of the files are 100% downloadable, you can take your Rocket German classes wherever you by using your iPod, MP3 player, or pocket PC. Since these classes are relatively short, you can take them whenever you like- while driving to work or during a lunch break. Not to mention that you will also have access to full transcripts of the entire class as well, just to help you out even more.

Aside from the conversation classes, you will also have 31 language lessons and culture lessons. With the language lessons you will have full explanations on grammar topics while the culture lessons give you a deeper insight into German customs, traditions, and history. Here you will have over 110 hours of embedded audio clips, various activities, and details and explanations.

To make learning the language fun, there are 3 MegaGerman games.

MegaVocab is supposed to help you build up your German vocabulary. MegaAudio focuses more on developing your listening skills. MegaVerbs is claimed to help you with German verbs and their forms and conjugations.

Rocket Record is another learning tool that is designed to help improve pronunciation. Here you will be able to record your own voice and compare it to a native German speaker.

You will also have lifetime access to Rocket German Language Lounge and any updates that occur in the future. Here you will find a progress tracker, tons of quizzes and tests. You will also be able to take down notes on certain lessons and you even have the chance to get certified by Rocket Languages.

Transparent German Complete Edition Tools

If you think that Rocket German has a lot of tools, let’s just say that the Transparent German Complete Edition is not called the complete edition for nothing. Actually, this course is more of a compilation rather than a creation since team Transparent actually gathered tools and features from their other programs and came out with this one.

With Transparent German Complete Edition, you begin the learning process with the Byki Deluxe. Here you will be able to take quizzes and tests, play educational games, and keep track of your progress throughout the entire course. This also comes with a voice recording feature that allows you to compare how you say something in German to how a native German speaker would say the same phrase. However, one of the key features of this are the flash cards. The flash cards are just what you need to build up your German vocabulary base.

Part of the complete edition is the Transparent German Premium Edition. With this, they claim that you will not only develop your oral conversational skills but your written ones too through the use of language texts, videos, and even stories that are all a part of a detailed lesson plan.

LinguaMatch German is a unique feature to Transparent Languages because this actually allows you to explore 30 virtual reality scenarios. By clicking through, you will be able to learn the German terms for objects and conversational phrases from the characters that you will meet.

The Lexicon translation dictionary can be kind of like your quick reference to over 65,000 German words.

Also, with Everywhere German audio lessons, you can pretty much take your classes everywhere and anywhere, like when you are stuck in traffic, when you have a short break, or even when you are on the treadmill.

To Sum Up

So, here are the facts and nothing but the facts. Basically, when it comes down to Rocket German VS Transparent German Complete Edition, the winning program depends on your personal learning style and preference. Hopefully this article has given you a better idea of what each course has to offer and help you make a more informed decision.

>>> Check out the Rocket German Course here <<<

>>> Check out the Transparent German Course here <<<

Rocket German Or Tell Me More German: You Decide

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Learning German is hard enough as it is, but with the right program, you will find the whole process much less intimidating and much more enjoyable. But choosing one that suits you is a whole other story.

With so many learn German courses and programs offered on the market today, finding one to match your learning style can be tough. So to narrow down the search, here is a short review on two of the most used programs minus all the sugar coated sales talk. Here you will find just what you need to know about each program- the method and the tools, and after you have gone over the facts it is all up to you. Rocket German Or Tell Me More German: You Decide.

Rocket German

The Approach

The people behind Rocket German have taken the “natural” way of learning and further developed it with interesting learning tools and features. The natural method is actually based on how children naturally learn their mother tongues. Basically, they begin to understand, listen, and speak much earlier than when they start to read and write. That is why this course is focused on listening, comprehension and conversational speaking skills.

The Learning Tools

Rocket German comes with 31 audio lessons. Each of these are very interactive and last for about 20-30 minutes. All in all, that adds up to about 11 hours of casual conversations in German – the kind that you will actually be able to use during your trip to the country. So basically you will learn real to life, everyday phrases and sentences such as what you need to say when checking into a hotel or ordering in a restaurant.

You can download every single file so that you can take it wherever you want. Plus, since the lessons are only 20-30 minutes each, it will be easy to find time to squeeze in a class here and there – like when you’re driving or working out.

Also, you will have access to the full transcripts of each lesson to make things much easier, especially for beginners.

Aside from that, you will also get 31 language and culture lessons. The language lessons provide detailed explanations on grammar topics and the like while the culture lessons give you more insight on the history and culture of Germany. With these you will get over 110 hours full of embedded audio clips, notes, and activities.

Again, these lessons can be downloaded if you want to look at them without logging into the Rocket German Learning Lounge. They are downloaded into a PDF format and can even be printed out if you want to read them away from the computer. Of course the interactive part of the pdf documents won’t work if you print them out.

You will also get full access to the Rocket German Language Lounge. Here you will be able to track your progress, take self tests and interactive quizzes, add notes and comments to the lessons you have already taken, you will get free updates, and at the end of the course, you will even be officially certified.

Since all work and no play makes you a dull student, Rocket German make learning fun with these three games-

MegaVocab,

MegaAudio,

and MegaVerbs.

MegaVocab is supposed to help you memorize vocabulary and expand the words that you already know. MegaAudio is designed to enhance your listening comprehension. MegaVerbs is supposed to help you out with verb forms and structures.

Rocket Record, one of the latest additions, is bound to help you improve your German pronunciation, stress, and intonation. Here you will actually be able to record your voice and compare it to that of a native German speaker.

Tell Me More German

The Approach

The people behind Tell Me More German believe in what they refer to as the PRIME approach.

P as in Progressive,

R as in Real World,

I as in Interactive,

M as in Motivating,

and E as in Effective.

It is progressive because they believe that your level will surely go up, no matter where you begin. Real world because the things you will learn are based on real life scenarios. Interactive because you actually partake in the conversations and lessons instead of just merely listening. It is motivating because you will have over 40 different tasks that are designed to challenge you each and every time. Effective as it claims to have a 94% rate under its belt.

The Learning Tools

Tell Me More German covers 10 different levels of learning that cater beginners to advanced students. Here you will have 20 hours of interesting and interactive videos that are followed up with over 20,000 activities and exercises.

You can learn wherever you want whenever you want as you can download the files to your iPhone, MP3 player, or Pocket PC plus you can even print out vocabulary lists as well as the grammar lessons.

One thing that Tell Me More German is proud about is the state of the art technology that they use to make the learning process better. SETS, Spoken Error Tracking System, technology can actually detect mispronounced words. This highly advanced speech recognition system is designed to help improve your pronunciation and your intonation. Another cool high-tech feature is the role play activity. Kinda like an role play game, you get the chance to be a character on your very own TV show.

To see just how far you have come, you can take the progress tests and use the tracking tools which are designed to help you keep your eye on the goal the entire program- which is to be able to speak German.

Also, whenever the need arises, this program gives you access to an online tutor 24/7.

So, here are the facts, now for the choice. Rocket German Or Tell Me More German: You Decide.

>>> Get Rocket German here <<<

>>> Get Tell Me More German Levels 1-10 here <<<

Fluenz German VS Rocket German: Two Different Programs, One Honest Review

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Since people have different learning styles, it is only normal that the programs to teach languages have different leaning methods and learning tools as well. So, if you are set on learning German, here are two very different courses offered on the market today with nothing but the facts. Fluenz German VS Rocket German: Two Different Programs, One Honest Review

The Method and Approach

Fluenz German takes the more traditional approach that has the school feel to it. What this means is that Fluenz German offers full explanations to everything you will learn from the course. The people behind this program strongly believe that “Great explanations make a big difference because we don’t learn like children anymore”.

This says much about Fluenz. Firstly, it’s made for adults and the dialogs and scenarios presented in the course reflect this. I guess teenagers and younger kids could use it but it might not be appropriate teaching them to ask for a beer !

The teaching style tries to fast track a persons understanding of German by leveraging their knowledge of English. This is at odds with other language course like Rosetta Stone, which try to build up your understand with no preconceived ideas and no reliance on English.

The debate about which teaching philosophy ultimately works will go on and on but the reality is that you will spend a long time using the Rosetta course to get to a conversational level. you probably won’t spend as much time using the Fluenz course.

For Rocket German also try to fast track your learning using an audio course and various other learning tools. They probably have more emphasis  on speaking and comprehension than actual reading and writing but these two skill sets are covered to some extent too.

The creators of Rocket German have set their content for adults too and it follows two people traveling round Germany. One is a native German speaker and the other is an English speaking person. The English speaker frames the lessons and does the teaching bits. The native speaker ensures you hear a good German accent.

So, basically the interactive conversational approach means that you will learn how to understand through listening comprehension and you will begin speaking German right from the very first lesson.

The Tools and Features

With Fluenz German, You will be guided all the way with your very own Nora Naatz, a true blue German. She will help you as she gives you easy to understand step by step instructions and explanations.

With Rocket German, you will have Sandra and Mathias with you every step of the way. They are kinda like your personal tutors who will be with you all throughout the program.

The base of Fluenz German is the interactive CD s that come with around 60 lessons that vary from
one and a half hours to two hours long. Just like having class back in college, these sessions are much longer than competing brands on the market because aside from hearing a German Conversations, your tutor will take the time to give full detailed explanations on what you have learned in a step by step process.

With Rocket German, you will have 31 audio lessons all which are 20 minutes in length- much shorter than Fluenz. Here, you will also have and interactive casual German conversation that you partake in even at your very first lesson. You do not get step by step explanations from your tutor, but you do however have full transcripts of the entire class to help you out.

Aside from that, Rocket German also comes with 31 lessons on the language and the culture. The language lessons offer fully illustrated explanations on grammar while the culture lessons teach you more about the country itself, like the traditions, customs, and history. Here you will have over 110 hours of various activities, embedded audio clips, and detailed notes.

For both programs, there is the on the go feature. With either one you can move the files to your iPod, MP3 player, pocket PC and the like so that you can take it with you wherever you want.
Fluenz German’s voice recorder is pretty much like the Rocket Record. These two tools are both designed to help you improve your German pronunciation and intonation by comparing it to that of a native German speaker’s.

Fluenz German gives you access to different workouts that help you enhance and improve all of your German skills- complete from reading to writing to listening to speaking.

The Fluenz navigator is kinda like your quick reference guide on useful phrases and words.

The Rocket German Language Lounge also gives you access to a myriad of activities. You can take tests and quizzes, take down notes on classes that you have taken, get free updates, get certified by Rocket Languages, and even keep an eye on how well you are doing with the progress tracker.

Aside from that, you will also have MegaGerman, three games developed by Rocket German to help you enjoy learning the language more. You have MegaVocab to help build up your German words. You have MegaAudio to improve your listening comprehension as well as your German pronunciation. Last but not the least, you have MegaVerbs to help you understand verb forms and conjugation much better.

The Focus of the Programs

With Fluenz German you will go over conversation practice, listening comprehension, grammar, pronunciation, reading, and writing.

Rocket German on the other hand covers all of that minus the reading and the writing part.

Customer Service

Fluenz German offers FAQ, email support, phone support, tutorials while Rocket German offers email support, phone support, tutorials

And So

So here are the facts from the approach to the learning tools to the features to the focus all the way to the customer service. So think about what you want to learn and how you want to learn it. Fluenz German VS Rocket German: Two Different Programs, one honest review – now it’s time to decide which one is for you.

>>> Get the Fluenz German course 1-5 here <<<

>>> Get the Rocket German course here <<<

Rocket German VS Pimsleur German: Comparing the Two

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Learning German is no easy task, but it can be much easier with the right language program. However, with so many readily available, it is easy to get lost in all of the flashy advertisements and sweet sales talk. So here are two of the leading language courses with nothing but the cold hard facts. Rocket German VS Pimsleur German: Comparing the Two

Rocket German

How You Learn:

The approach of Rocket German is called the interactive conversational approach. The creators and developers also refer to this as the natural method. They have taken the way children learn their first language, which is by understanding, listening, and speaking first and reading and writing later, and tweaked it up a bit to make it suit adults by adding tools and features.

What You Learn:

So, with Rocket German, you will basically be focused on conversational German, and not so much on written side of the language. This will mainly cover useful vocabulary, common phrases, grammar, and pronunciation.

What You Use To Learn:

To start off, Rocket German will provide you with 31 interactive audio lessons that are 20 minutes each. So that comes up to a total of 11 hours of useful casual German conversations that you will be able to listen to over and over as many times as you please. These conversations will cover everything you need from simple greetings to asking where the toilet is.
All are fully downloadable so that you can take them anywhere on your iPod, MP3 player, or pocket PC. Plus, you will also get complete transcripts of each lesson to help you out even more.

Rocket German also comes with over 31 language and culture lessons. That comes up to a total of over 110 hours of activities, embedded audio clips, explanations, and notes. With these you will learn the details of the language, such as grammar, as well as the rich history and culture behind it.

To lighten things up a bit, MegaGerman offers three games to make the learning process more enjoyable. MegaVocab will not only help you remember German words that you have already learned but it will help expand your vocabulary altogether. MegaAudio is supposed to help you out with your listening comprehension. MegaVerbs is designed for more advanced students as it focuses on verb forms and conjugations.

The Rocket German Language Lounge has a lot to offer. Here you will have access to interactive quizzes and self tests. All the results go directly to the progress tracker so that you can see just how far you have come. You also get to store notes and comments on lessons that you have taken for future reference. You get free upgrades. Heck, you can even get certified. You can access all of this through a user friendly navigation system.

Pimsleur German

How You Learn:

The method that Pimsleur German focuses on is based on two main principles which are Graduated Interval Recall and Principle of Anticipation, and two key factors which are core vocabulary and the organic learning concept. Basically, Graduated Interval Recall means that the minute you begin to forget a word or phrase, you will be encouraged to remember it asap. Principle of anticipation means that you will simply anticipate the correct answer just a few seconds before it is revealed.

Core vocabulary is highly important as it serves as the base of the whole German language learning process. So you basically have to learn a selected list of German words that have been proven to be most common and at the same time useful. The organic learning concept is that while you learn common German phrases, you will also learn vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation at the same time. So it’s kinda like hitting 4 birds with one stone.

What You Learn:

Pimsleur German, like Rocket German, focuses on the oral side of the language and not so much on the written area. However, you will learn basic German reading skills. So with this you will learn vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, sentences, and phrases.

What You Use To Learn:

Pimsleur German offers 3 levels with 10 interactive 30-minute audio lessons each. The first level covers the basics. This is pretty much greetings, asking questions, giving directions, and the like. The second level expands on what you have learned in the first one and adds a whole lot more vocabulary and phrases. The third one should have turned any beginner into and intermediate student by now.

Since written German is very different from written English, Pimsleur German offers reading lessons, but it only covers the basics. Coming to a total of around one hour, these readings will teach you how to pronounce different characters and letters of the German alphabet. You will also have a Reading booklet that comes in a PDF format.

>>> Get the Pimsleur German course here <<<

>>> Get the Rocket German Course here <<<

Compare Rocket German To Rosetta Stone German Language Course

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Two self study courses that are popular at the moment are Rocket German and the Rosetta Stone German course. This article will compare these two course in terms of their quality and how they teach the German language to students.

To begin with, these courses are quite different in their approach to teaching.

Rosetta Stone German tries to immerse you in the language. Thus you will not see any English cues when the lessons begin. Everything happens in German and you have to figure it out. This is a bit like immersion German, where you might be in a German speaking country and have to get by speaking German. Or even as you learned your mother tongue, purely by hearing the words and making some kind of connection to the meaning of the work.

A lesson will consist of a series of questions. Each question would consist of 4 images/photographs and a button that can be pressed to hear audio. The audio would be either naming the image or describing what was occurring in the image. It is then your task to select the image that corresponds to the audio.

You would go through the whole lesson, that would be on a particular theme, say colors. At the end of the lesson you would be given a mark on how many questions you got right. If you got all the questions right you could advance onto a harder level.

The Rosetta Stone course uses this method to quite an advanced level. It is not just about learning vocabulary. You will be asked questions that involve sentences, which will help you to learn nouns, adjectives, verbs, verb conjugation and adverbs.

They also use the same method for recognizing written words, practice writing and have a way to analyze your speech patterns to help improve your accent. The number of lessons is vast and will take you to an advanced level but you have to buy the complete set of 3 courses to get to this level.

Rocket German takes a slightly different approach.

Basically, Rocket German have tried to put a combination of teaching methods into their course. I think they have taken elements from Pimsleur/Michel Thomas by having an audio component to the course. They have an interactive PDF course along the lines of a traditional book course. And they have even used similar ideas as Rosetta Stone with their games section.

So the audio course is 31 15-30 minute lessons. The lessons deal with basic German through to everyday situations like being in a restaurant or shopping.

The audio follows the narrator, a native English speaker and her native German speaking friend. The English speaker introduces the lesson and does the teaching by illustrating points and asking you questions. The German speaker speaks the German parts so that you get to hear an authentic accent. You are advised to say the words or sentences after him aloud.

The end of the lesson involves recapping what has been learned and then answering some questions posed by the narrator. You are given time to answer aloud and then the German speaker gives the answer.

The second part of Rocket German is PDF interactive course. This course has lessons from beginner through to intermediate/advanced levels. This is where you are taught grammar, shown how verbs are conjugated and introduced to new words. You will learn more about reading and writing in German. There are a number of questions at the end of each lesson to help you consolidate your learning.

The course starts out with the elementary aspects of German and gradually builds to real world situations in the later chapters.

The Rocket German games are called MegaVocab, MegaAudio and MegaVerb. As mentioned before, they are similar to the Rosetta Stone method in that they use pictures and have to answer a series of questions.

In the case of MegaVocab and MegaAudio, you have to guess which picture is correct after hearing the written or spoken German word. In MegaVerb, you are asked to type in the correct conjugation of a series of verbs in terms of the tense and person that is speaking.

You receive a mark at the end of each lesson. With this information at hand you can select to go to the next topic or repeat this topic again. A useful feature of the vocabulary game is that you can add you own pictures/questions. This makes it possible to have a huge selection of vocabulary to work through.

There is also two sets of flashcards that you can print out and play with other German language students.

There is a forum where you can ask questions and practice with other people using the course. From time to time the Rocket German team will send you a new follow up lesson.

Good points of Rosetta Stone German

Unique way of learning – no books or writing things down.

High quality images and generally professional looking system.

Track your progress through a scoring system.

Can analyze speech but you need your own headset.

Bad points

There are three separate products that take you from beginner to advanced. Each one is quite expensive and the whole set is considerably more expensive than Rocket German and many other types of courses.

This approach is very light on formal instruction, particularly in grammar. This might not be suitable for some people that feel more comfortable and confident by knowing why as well as how something works.

Good points of Rocket German course

Value for money – you get an audio course that can be used separately from the other parts of the package. The pdf interactive course is also a course in itself, that teaches the finer points of the language and grammar. The games are useful but not as wide ranging as Rosetta Stone. The forum and follow up emails with extra lessons are good to keep you motivated and develop a sense of community.

Send out follow up lessons that can keep you motivated and have a forum where you can ask questions and talk with other students.

Bad points

Some of the photographs in the games are not always clear and you have to use the show English word button from time to time.

>>> Get the Rosetta Stone German course here <<<

>>> Go to the Official Rocket German website for more details <<<

Comparison Of Michel Thomas And Rocket German Language Courses

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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 German speaking person.

Rocket German 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.

The Michel Thomas course is easy to use, all you need is a cd or mp3 player. You can listen to the lessons anywhere at anytime. However, he advises that you pay full attention to the recording so driving or other things that require a fair amount of concentration may not be suitable. Although this is easier to do when you have listened to the recordings a few times.

Rocket German can be downloaded from the Internet. This is a great feature as you can be learning German with the course in about 25 minutes. The Rocket German program has an audio component, a pdf course and three games to practice vocabulary, comprehension and verb conjugation.

Michel Thomas German is designed for people wanting to learn German quickly. If you are planning a sudden trip to a German speaking country Michel Thomas is a great choice. My only reservation is that his accent is not that good. This is not good for perfecting pronunciation but his teaching methods are really good. The set up of the records is that he teaches and you act as the third student in his class. The other two students are on the recording. They ask and answer questions that Michel Thomas poses. You are advised to answer these questions too by stopping the recording, answering out aloud and then restarting it to get the answer.

Rocket German is designed for people that want to get a fully rounded German language education. It has sections that teach you to speak, listen, read and write.

The audio is similar to Michel Thomas. It features a narrator and a native German speaker. The narrator does the teaching and asks questions. You are advised to stop the recording and answer the question out aloud. Then start the recording and the native German speaker gives the answer. This is good because you get proper pronunciation.

The pdf course is an interactive course that starts with the basics of the language and builds to real world situations. You can click on words to get the audio for it and there are tests at the end of each lesson.

The educational tools are the games and some flash cards that you can print out. They are good as a reference guide for German 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.

>>> Get the Michel Thomas German course here <<<

Or, If you are interested in Rocket German then

>>> Visit the Rocket German official site here <<<

Rocket German Games – MegaVerb

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This is the third of the MegaGames. The other two games help you to learn comprehension and vocabulary. you can read about these other two games at MegaAudio and  MegaVocab. If you want to learn about the course in it’s entirety then check out the Rocket German learning lounge, Rocket German audio course and the Rocket German review. Otherwise, learn all about MegaVerb below.

German grammar is quite difficult to master and learning it rote fashion can be, well, a bit tedious. MegaVerb is a way to practice your verb conjugation that makes this important part of your language skills that little bit easier.

MegaVerb starts by offering you the tense that you want to perfect. You can select more than one tense if you feel confident. If you are not so good with verb conjugation then concentrate on one to begin with.

Once you have selected the tense/s you go to another screen that gives you the infinitive of the verb and the person that is conjugating the verb. Your task is to type in the correct verb and ending for that person. This is actually quite difficult, especially as you have to get the exact spelling correct. This includes accented characters.

You are asked 25 questions and given four attempts to type in the correct answer. At the end of the questions you are given a score. This score indicates your level of understanding and can tell you if you need more practice.

So you will learn spelling, included accented characters, using this game. If you use it often, you will develop a good understanding of how a verb should look for a tense and person. Although this is purely a writing game, it will help you remember your verb conjugation if you stick with it. It beats learning it from a book and can be played as a break from the proper German lessons and audio in the Rocket German course.

For more details of the Rocket German course visit the Rocket German website.