so ive been wanting to get into CW for a while now, got my general last year and just never bothered with code since its not required anymore but everyone says its worth learning and i keep seeing people on 40m having these long QSOs and i just hear noise basically

anyway i downloaded a couple apps and tried doing the whole alphabet chart thing where you look at dots and dashes and try to memorize them but that seems really wrong somehow, like im just staring at dit dah dah and trying to convert it in my head and by the time i figure out one letter the next three are gone

is there like a method that actually works or do people just grind it out for months, also how long did it realistically take you to get to where you could actually have a real QSO, not contesting or anything just a basic contact

yeah the chart method is definitely the wrong way to go about it, youre basically setting yourself up to always be translating instead of just hearing letters. the thing that worked for me and a lot of people is the Koch method, theres a free program called LCWO dot net that does it online and its pretty well structured. you start with just two characters at full speed, like 20wpm, and you dont move on until you can copy them at 90% or whatever threshold you set. the idea is your brain learns the sound of the letter not the dots and dashes.

also look up the Farnsworth method, its related, basically you send characters fast but space them out so you have time to think without slowing down the actual character sound. if you learn at 5wpm your brain gets used to slow dits and dahs and then speeding up later is brutal.

realistically for a basic QSO, if you practice like 20-30 minutes a day consistently, most people say somewhere between 3 and 6 months to feel comfortable enough for a slow ragchew. some people faster some slower, just depends. dont give up after a week like i almost did

honestly I'm kind of in the same boat as you, started LCWO about two months ago and im at maybe 12 characters now. its slow going but i can actually hear letters now without thinking about it for some of them which is wild compared to when i started

one thing someone told me that helped was to just tune around on 40 or 80 and listen even if you cant copy anything, just getting your ear used to the rhythm of it. theres also a bunch of youtube channels that do slow code practice transmissions which i found useful for getting off the pure drill stuff and hearing it in a more real context