Wanting to Learn Mandarin Chinese
with Rocket Chinese?

Because we really do learn a language best from hearing and repeating it, Rocket Chinese introduces you to the sound of Chinese through conversation. The speakers are really engaging, introducing you to Chinese life and culture as they teach you words and phrases you'll actually use. Best of all, and this is really important for such a difficult language, the speakers are easy to understand, making replicating their accent simple and fun.

But maybe you aren't an auditory learner. That's okay - many of us aren't! For example, I learn best by reading - my brother learns best by playing games. Rocket Chinese has activities that suit all learning styles. Visual learners will love the way traditional Chinese characters are taught alongside pinyin (Chinese written using our alphabet).

And gamers will be delighted by MegaAudio, which builds your understanding of spoken Chinese as you play, and MegaVocab, a fun way to increase your vocabulary! These games don't feel anything like typical educational fare - they're fun, challenging, and totally addictive.

And we're still not done. If you were studying Chinese in a classroom, you'd have someone to ask when you ran into trouble - someone who could help you one on one. Well, Rocket Chinese offers you access to an exclusive learner's forum moderated by native speakers, to answer all your questions 24/7!

This amazing Chinese language course - the only one of the three available in both Mac and Windows formats -- would definitely be worth $299.95. But you don't have to pay that! (Click here to find out more!)

Consumer Tip: Don't buy the Rocket Chinese 20-CD pack. The only difference between the CD version and the downloadable version is that the CD version provides the audio lessons in stereo quality, where the online version provides your audio tracks in MP3 format.

Inside your member's section you have the option to buy a 2-CD backup of the course for only $19.95, and the Premium Plus level II course for $20 less.

And it seems intelligently designed; one of its most unique features is its memory algorithm technology, which compares the student's spoken voice to that of a native speaker to improve your accent. (This may backfire, however, if the student's accent is so bad the software considers it unintelligible.)

The vocabulary is somewhat slanted toward the tourist rather than the business user, but overall is very useful - the student will learn to ask the time of day, order food in a restaurant, ask directions, and the like. Students get simple grammar lessons and a solid vocabulary, together with a bit of practice in reading and writing Chinese.

Transparent Chinese Complete might be suitable for someone planning to visit China for a very short time, particularly if they'll be staying in an urban area where many people are fluent in English. In other words, even though the program bills itself as Transparent Chinese Complete, it really isn't.

This Chinese language course, therefore, is disappointing. At $295.00, it only includes 3 CDs and a fraction of the amount of instruction offered by the other programs I've reviewed. Most disturbingly, however, the method of instruction is difficult to follow, and the choice of vocabulary words is not useful in the least.

Like Transparent Chinese Complete, it offers a method of analyzing the student's own speech to ensure he or she is pronouncing words correctly, and it also provides reading opportunities using both traditional Chinese characters and pinyin. But it's not enjoyable to use, and it's difficult to imagine any student sticking with it.