so ive been wanting to get into CW for a while now and i finally decided to just start trying to learn morse code but honestly i dont even know where to begin. ive looked at a few charts online and tried to memorize the letters but it feels like it isnt sticking at all. i can sort of remember S and O because of SOS but everything else just falls out of my head.

is there like a method that actually works or do people just sit there and drill the alphabet over and over until it clicks? ive heard some people say dont learn from the chart at all and to use your ears instead but i dont totally understand what that means in practice. any apps or websites people have actually used and found helpful would be great, im not in any rush to get on the air but id like to at least be able to copy something simple eventually

the chart thing is actually bad advice for most people, or at least starting by staring at a chart is. the way it was explained to me when i was learning is that you want to associate the sound directly with the letter, not the sound with dots and dashes and then the dots and dashes with the letter. thats an extra step your brain has to do every single time and at any real speed it just falls apart.

what worked for me was the Koch method, theres a free program called LCWO dot net that walks you through it. you start with just two characters at full speed, like 20 wpm even though youre a beginner, and you dont move on until you can copy those two at like 90% accuracy. sounds brutal but it forces your brain to recognize the sound as a whole instead of counting dits and dahs. took me probably 3 or 4 months of 15-20 minutes a day before i felt like i could actually follow a slow QSO. also the app Morse Mania is pretty good for phone practice if youre commuting or whatever

yeah im kind of in the same boat as you honestly, started maybe two months ago. what i found is that the ARRL has some code practice files you can download and theyre actual on air recordings so it feels more real than just a computer beeping at you. there also is a code practice net on shortwave i think its W1AW that does transmissions at different speeds which is cool once you have some letters down.

dont get discouraged if it feels impossibly slow at first because everyone says that. i still mess up C and Y constantly they sound way too similar to me lol