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Hello! What do you think is the best way to learn: go to the next lesson when reaching 90% of correct answers, even though I have to listen to the recording 2-3 times, or repeat the same lesson until I can reach 90% on the 1st listening?

And if you have other tips, it would be great, thank you!

I think it's probably best to wait until you can get 90%-plus on the first listening - i.e. do more lessons before progressing.

If you end up listening to the same thing even a few times then you can end up remembering some of it, which isn't really the skill we are trying to master.

I would also suggest that it is worth trying to start at an effective speed that is not too far from the cw speed, if you are able to stick with it. In that way there is less of a 'hill to climb' to get to normally-spaced morse code.

It depends how good you are. Aptitude is the main factor in learning morse.


Some people get to 25/25 in a few weeks; others get to 20/20 in a few years; many more give up.

There are a few gotchas . . .

0/ Don't give up. Be in it for the long haul whatever it takes.


1/ Thinking it's going to be a trivial exercise - maybe like learning the alphabet.

What you are trying to achieve is an automatic decode without thinking about it
- so when you hear morse the characters just pop into your head as if from no-where.

Same sort of thing as when you drive a car without thinking about it.

Depending upon your aptitude you can be some time practising to reach this level.

You need to be able to decode what you just heard and then assemble it into meaning - unravelling abbreviations q-codes etc which you need to understand and remember
whilst
listening to the next morse and remembering it to decode next . .

This is generally known as head copying - as opposed to writing it all down then reading it back


The way to manage this is lots of repetition - like learning anything else - but you must build on what you already know and reinforce it.




In the very very olden days when nonag was learning morse (1930), he didn't sit at his computer listening to Koch, Farnsworth or ARRL slow transmissions.

All the old HAMS had to just listen to lots of code ( on an actual radio ) and pick it up the best way they could, a bit at a time, repeat repeat etc

They must think we are softies.




2/ Going too fast - short term memory will do for the first 10-15 exercises but then if it didn't sink in you may well stall and stop making progress.

This is probably why so many people give up - suddenly they know nothing again.

Go too slow you waste time - go too fast yo may well waste even more time.

We don't know anything about you - so you have to work out how good you are yourself . .

2a/ When you are on the first few exercises it is possible to get high scores with a new character simply because you know it is not one of the previous characters, rather than you know it as the character itself yet.

This is a contributory to stalling after a few lessons because you soon have a few characters you don't quite know . . .



3/ Typing. If you are not a touch typist already then you may well find you learn morse all right - but only as far as the key presses which may well now come automatically - but then you have to read back what you typed. You need to decode to meaning . . .





Also . . if you are in this group you may have tried before and be on a second attempt or be valiantly struggling along making little progress.


If you are not like that then you may want to try just the straight Koch method without Farnsworth, and try learning at a faster speed - say 20/20

This can be done as an aptitude test . . see how you get on.





If you are stalling etc then advice here in this group will be to :-

Get through all the exercises any way you can, however slow you go - as long as you make continual progress so you don't get bored or disillusioned and then give up.


This "advice" is given because so many seem to people give up due to stopping making progress.

This of course brings issues of its own because you then have to practice even morse to understand actual morse use away from the exercises.


So - no tips - no way to speed up beyond what you are capable of. Its just working at it.


4/ Doing too much or two little training.

Shorter sessions with break might be a help at first say 2 mins with 2 mins off else you can get fatuiged and stop learning.
BUT
Do some morse decoding a few times a day to make sure you are reinforcing.



5/ Get your headphones sorted and make sure the audio frequency you pick is one at which your ears can actually spot the dits and dahs

If you are younger this is probably less of a problem - but if you were in the artillery during national service or like loud music it may be a factor.

If you think it may be an issue then practice repeating back the code just after it has played. If you can't hear it you won't decode it.

When you have finished the exercises this might ( or might not - YMMV ) help you with head decoding, because that's that's what you want to be the automatic bit whist you remember the next morse as it comes in.



6/ Still don't give up. It's worth it in the end. If you are a 2 year+ student, your achievement will be all the greater and you will value morse a lot more.



Remember though - we won't know anything about you - so you have to choose your own way.

No short cuts - relax into it.

Lots of stuff on line to help you . . .


YMMV ( again)

Let us know how you get on . . a success cheers up the whole forum


A few of the others will be along in a bit with more to say . .


CB

Hi Maria. Certainly do not go to the next lesson too quickly. I would even increase the requirement to reach above 90% three consecutive times, not just once. I know that it might be boring but it is just how it works. You see, learning Morse is about developing automatic reactions. And you can only do it by many many repetitions. Repetitive repetitions no matter how boring it is. Just treat it as a game trying each time to reach a little higher than before. And trying again and again.

As to other tips, it is difficult to give them without knowing about your individual abilities and possible difficulties. For example, do you have the tendency to imagine dots and dashes, and to count them? If yes then you have to fix your character speed as high as possible to avoid it. Because you need to learn the rhythm and melody of each character, not its image.

So, do a few more lessons very slowly. And then tell us how it is going and what problems you might have.

Good luck,
Greg

Maria:
I never limit myself to a single source for a "lesson". I use several different sources for lesson material. Also, I create my own lessons.
Here is the first set that I use to paste into the
CONVERT TEXT TO CW feature on LCWO.net for the beginning level. Here the characters are double spaced or more to make copying easier if like me,
the learner deals with a kind of handicap.
#1
y r q l ? , k z f j .
q / d g c y q 9 M .
g , k r l g , z d I f .
y L ? e q p / v 5 f .

Group #2
v q , f / 9 w ? f 9 .
5 y 9 , r k ? / z q .
d p h j v q / f p r 5 .
L q 5 j v c 9 z q ? / f .



Group #3
, t v q 5 j w p y z .
l g f / j 0 e r 5 g v t .
d p h j v q / f p r 5 ; .
, u 9 L t c z ?q d / I .


Group #4

w e j s d t o f M / r o .
c c v j a t z / h c l s .
0 e s t p f 5 i k n T C.
a q c f l y l / u h ? d , .


Group # 5
g v f l j d / h r w .
i p 9 u 0 s d t f /.
c c v d j a t z / h c l s .
w j v 9 d 5 q g c .


Group #6
e u n c j 0 I s ? t b .
u t v 9 p h j y s t e f .
c I e n I ? v q / f c q .
a s m a t p I c ? z e .


Group #7
r g a 5 v ? h q L c .
/ w r h 9 , h t h /
b I m L d 9 u ? q 5 f .
c d o r m g b , u I z .


Group #8
q y 5 z l g p w ? f d .
w l v b q 0 c ? h .
g , k v l g , z g d I f .
g , z d I f k ? g b , u

Group #9
0 c s / p f 5 i ? k n T C .
g , k v l c / , z g d I f .
q y / 5 z l 9 p w ? f d .
w l v b q 0 c ? h g .



Group #10
e u n c j 0 I s ? t b .
u t v c 9 p h j y s t f .
c I e q n I ? v q / f c q .
a q s c t p f I c ? z q e .




Group #11
d e k n 4 n n t v j b f q .
q 9 / r l f z h I c h 5 .
4 n n 5 t k v n t c q.
q m c n t n q h 4 v d .


12
g y f r k j u b q z j 5 .
w f h = q 0 j ? c l p .
q y 5 z l g = p w f z d .
h v d p c h / j l p / q .

After these I have other lessons, and also I advance to lessons without spacing for the characters.
Later lessons look like this:
700
-- // ?? ,, == ++
neusq0g5dcsz .
icyjzbnk3-vs72 .
3ab2=usxin23i .
x7w1jahcjgf/vb .



701 -- // ?? ,, == ++
9haaysxcyc17 .
0g95l9u480u3 .
xyax46868dap .
x5a03op1p7ix .

702 -- // ?? ,, == ++
j22vh1mnhc6q .
yrtc3zi2fvbkjea .
8x1p7o0g,?sgqf .
d1w5gcbycsz8 .



703 ​-- // ?? ,, == ++
eduth=191bq5l .
faidsz/gljt73x / .
znk2v-clzf37rb .
ukkykxp-e6h5w .


704 -- // ?? ,, == ++
0jlyd1bw-80rt .
yjayegs8x5cl .
l93y=8lm8a4ke .
4hk29l94/0qb8 .

Thus, learning can be adjusted to accommodate individual need and ability. Some lessons are associated with some kind of dictatorial command to learn as another person prescribes. I tend to learn by any and all means possible, which usually means to abandon anything like a "command" to do things only one way or according to someone else's rigid requirement. This gives me the flexibility to learn just about anything.
I do favor using the idea of a 90% effective rate for justification to advance if the student is comfortable with that. Since new characters are always added, there are bound to be some errors in copying. Also, some characters are used with less frequency, and they are sometimes forgotten (example: comma, forward slash, = etc.

Here are some personal observations and self critique from someone extremely new to this. Spent about four days without an account. One day was able to do up to lesson three with above 90% but the next day was horrible.

I still don't have a method so to speak but am starting out today (I just created an account) at lesson 1 again and plan to stick with it until I can consistently maintain >90 for 5 minute tests vs 1 minute.

The first couple character sequences seem to come easy, then I find myself spazzing out. I'm trying to develop a habit of ignoring missed characters and quickly regaining composure.

I am using the default settings as I think using slower settings will be more inhibiting than a plus.

A significant issue I see being a major problem, if I do not deal with it now, is the time it takes not only to recognize the character, but then to transcribe it. As I am a one finger typist, I don't think doing so on a keyboard will serve me well as more characters are introduced. The time it takes to legibly transcribe the characters is a major issue.

I think the best advice I have been seeing so far is to recognize the sound / rhythm instead of decoding the individual elements of the characters being received and processed in my brain. But again, I have essentially no experience to base this upon.

I may try just having 5 minute tests play in the background as I am doing other things until I can automatically recognize the sounds before moving on. Maybe one or two lessons ahead of where I feel comfortable.

I think gaining confidence and proficiency in lessons two and three will greatly help in distinguishing the challenge of automatic character recognition and separation. Lesson one is very simple in one aspect but foundational in overall character, character space, and word space recognition.

In all fairness and honesty though I am way too new at this to offer any advice.

That's OK - you are new to this. Your hearing may take some time to adjust to dits and dahs and spaces




Again - you are new to this.

Watch out for a form of fatigue ( and learning fatigue ) at first.

10 x 30 seconds sessions with a 20 second rest between will probably be more than 10 x as good as 1 x 5 mins.

Are you in such a hurry ?




Too much testing. These are exercises. Don't loose composure on an exercise.



Maybe, if you can do it.

Check if you can hear the code correctly - just repeat it back to yourself a bit behind and see if you can repeat it all correctly.

If you can't hear it easily you won't decode it.



Nasty potential trap here for the unwary - learn morse->keypress. Then you have to have a keyboard all the time.

Try shorter sessions eg 30 seconds and write it out. If still a problem maybe increase word gap.



You ( probably ) want to do so much decoding as practice that when you hear morse, the decoded chars appear in your mind as if by magic.

This comes from lots or repeated decoding.

You really need to hear da-da-di-da di-di-di dah-dah-dah as a single entity not space dah dah dit dah space dit dit dit space dah dah dah

and then assemble it all before decoding it.





Welcome aboard.

Stick with it, but make sure you make progress else you will probably loose interest.

Try to get through all 40 exercises, even if you have to slow down. Then worry about speeding up.

Expect to spend some time on this - learning in a week is mostly for people who were pre-selected because of aptitude.


NOTE: we know nothing about you so we can only point out pitfalls. In the end you have to decide.

YMMV etc

Let us know how you are getting on.


cb

Thank you for the thoughtful response cb.

I am not really in a hurry. Of course, would like to pick it up quickly but I think I am realistically looking at months vs weeks to get through the 40 exercises. I don't simply want to be able to struggle my way through a test, but instead, as you pointed out, hear characters and words rather than da's and di's.

I do have a question about progressing through the lessons though. Other than moving along more slowly, is there any evidence you are aware of to suggest that doing so can have a detrimental effect on overall learning and retention?

You mentioned "Nasty potential trap here for the unwary - learn morse->keypress. Then you have to have a keyboard all the time."

Can you please expand on "learn morse ->keypress?

Being old and gray, I don't seem to pick up things as quickly as I used to. There are a couple of reasons I want to learn.

1st: I've been fascinated with morse code since 4th grade or so in the 60's when one of our teachers started up a HAM club. One of my regrets is never pursuing it.

2nd: If things go south it seems like a reliable form of comms.

3rd: I think my brain can use the exercise and it seems useful.

Thanks again!

Another question...
So let's take "k" for example.
Is it correct to say that the goal should be not to fucus on hearing da-di-da but instead subconsciously hearing "k"?

Like learning to print the letter k. Instead of seeing it as an arrangement of three lines to form a character, the arrangement becomes a single representative entity.

(edit)So I just figured out how to use the MorseMachine! Awesome learning aide!!!!!

[quote=M220E4]
I do have a question about progressing through the lessons though. Other than moving along more slowly, is there any evidence you are aware of to suggest that doing so can have a detrimental effect on overall learning and retention?



No.





Should be morse->keypress gets learned instead of morse->letter in your head


Else you will soon be able to type out the letters as you hear the morse, but will then have to read it back.

Probably not what you really, or what you mean by "knowing morse code" want unless you are a military operator taking down cypher gobbledegook which has to be letter perfect . .





Well I would focus on da-di-da as a pattern instead of da dit da

If you think of "k" every time you hear this then eventually the "k" will appear automatically without you having to think.


This can take some time . . .


Good reasons. Thanks for sharing.

I think everyone should learn morse so we need less technological dependencies to communicate, not just for HAM radio.


cb

[quote=cb]

Yes - and that would require that people think before they speak.

please advise should i copy using paper and pen or type on screen

use paper and pen.