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Hi,
i achieved lesson 40 with 20/20 wpm before Christmas. It took me several months. But when it comes to listening QSO i am completely lost. The problem is that CW keeps abbreviation as short as possible, for example ES instead of AND and so on. In connection with space after each word it makes much higher speed overall. I am not able to copy even one word. I hope to overcome it soon. I am looking forward to my first QSO. Any tips? 73

Look on Internet for CW abbreviations.

Most used are summarised on this website forum https://lcwo.net/forum/1883/Cw-abbreviations

Above that you can exercise them under Words subsection lnguage: CW abbreviaations (Q codes)

Thanks. I will train theese words and callsigns. Maybe someone could copy QSOs after lesson 40, but i need some extra time.

I reached lesson 40 after 3 months of training... Copying QSO's is still hard now after an additional 10 months of training. Maybe I'm a very slow learner, but I think that I will have to train at least 6 months more, before I can copy normal speed on air. Only time will tell...

QSOs are much easier as they tend to be very repetitive. Just drill the abbreviations, Q-codes and prosigns.

You will find a nice list in:

Roger Cooke: "Morse Code for Radio Amateurs", RSGB, UK 2018

and it is pretty much the official ARRL list. Also Cooke has some sample QSOs which are quite helpful.

Another, excellent book is:

Peter Carron: "Morse Code: The Essential Language", ARRL, USA 1991

You can find it listed on Ebay and Abebooks. Well worth getting!

Be careful with some of the so-called web resources, there is a surprising amount of misinformation regarding prosigns.

Hmm... I am now doing 18wpm/18wpm random 5-letter groups with more than 90% correct for every try, but I still struggle with on-the-air QSO's...!!

I wonder why that is then... Maybe I haven't been exercising enough abbrevs, prosigns and Q-codes, although I have been doing those for some time now. Maybe it's because QSO's on-air are faster than 18wpm, and when they're not, they are much slower, and hard to copy because you can't recognize slow code as easy in head. Maybe it's because there is QSB, fading, QRM, bad fists and bad code, I don't know... Maybe it's the psychological factor, that you are not listening to a computer, but instead, a real person. All I can say, is that for me, QSO's, are still after little more than a year, very difficult to understand... And I'm still doing random strings of 5 at 18/18, and listening to up-to 5-letter english words in my car, at 23/23.

First, congratulations on completing he course!

I think you listed very well all the problems with going on the air. Do give yourself time.

One thing I would suggest is to train in sending and receiving at a wide range of speeds and not just your optimal speed: I use a straight key for speeds between 11-18 wpm, so it is not too boring, and a paddle from 20-24 wpm (I have resisted using a keyboard so far as I do hope to be able to send faster with a paddle, but my hands are very stiff).

Then, one is able to have a QSO with a wider range of OMs and can help beginners.

Another training tip is to train with background noise: in my case, my dog volunteers happily , but you could also run a newsprogram while you are receiving. This trains the brain in separating signals.

A better idea is to play another CW signal with another speed and pitch.
H.H.