so ive been wanting to learn CW for a while now and i keep putting it off because i just dont know where to start. theres like a hundred different apps and websites and methods and everyone seems to have a different opinion. i downloaded one app that just showed me the dots and dashes visually and i feel like that might be the wrong approach? like i read somewhere you're supposed to learn it by sound only and never look at the visual patterns but then other people say that worked fine for them.

im not trying to pass a test or anything, the license exams dont require it anymore obviously, i just think it would be cool to actually use it on the air someday. i have no idea what speed to aim for or how long it realistically takes. does anyone have experience learning as an adult with no musical background or anything like that, just a regular person trying to pick this up

okay so the visual dots and dashes thing -- yeah drop that, seriously. your brain will try to count the dits and dahs and you'll hit a wall around 10-12 wpm that you basically cant get past. the whole point is to hear each letter as its own sound, like how you recognize a word without spelling it out in your head.

the method most people swear by now is Koch method, which is what the LC (Learn CW Online) site uses, its free and its pretty well structured. you start with just two characters at full speed, like 20wpm character speed, and you add more as you get them right. sounds brutal but it actually works better than starting slow because you're training your ear to hear the rhythm not count beats. i learned as an adult, took me maybe 4 or 5 months of 15-20 minutes a day before i felt comfortable enough to try a QSO and even then it was rough but doable. just dont skip days is the main thing, consistency beats marathon sessions every time

im kind of in the same boat as you actually, been at it for about 6 weeks now using that LCWO site the other guy probably mentioned. its slow going honestly. i can copy maybe 8-10 characters okay but then i panic when i miss one and lose the next three trying to figure out what i missed lol. someone on here told me to just let it go when you miss something and keep listening, easier said than done

theres also a podcast called Codex or something? where they play actual QSO recordings slowed down. havent tried it yet but heard good things. mostly i just do the LCWO lessons every morning before work