so ive been doing CW practice for about 3 months now and im stuck somewhere around 8-9wpm. when i first started i was copying at maybe 5wpm and honestly felt like it was impossible but that part went faster than i expected. now though it feels like ive hit a wall and every time i sit down with the code practice stuff i feel like im not really improving anymore.

im using the koch method with the G4FON trainer and doing about 20-30 minutes a day most days. i set the character speed to 20wpm and the farnsworth spacing down so i can actually copy it. the problem is i feel like im still sounding out individual letters in my head instead of just hearing words, if that makes sense. like i KNOW that's the thing i need to get past but i dont know how to actually make it happen.

anyway i guess my question is - how long did it take you guys to get to 20wpm and is there anything specific that actually helped make that jump or do you just have to grind through it

that wall you're hitting around 8-10wpm is pretty much universal, everyone goes through it. what you're describing - still sounding out letters - is exactly the problem and the only way past it honestly is to just force yourself to copy faster than you're comfortable with even if you miss stuff. let it go, dont try to decode every single letter, just keep writing and see what your brain catches. it gets easier.

took me almost a year to get solid at 20wpm but i wasnt practicing every day so who knows. some guys do it in 3-4 months if they're really disciplined. the Farnsworth thing is good but at some point you gotta start closing that gap between character speed and word speed or your brain just gets used to having extra time and never learns to keep up. also if you haven't tried copying actual QSOs on the air yet - like just listening to 40m CW in the evenings - that helped me a lot more than any training software did once i was past the basics.

just chiming in because im basically in the same boat lol, sitting at like 10wpm and have been for what feels like forever. someone told me to try the LCWO website if you havent already, its got some different exercises and i think just mixing it up a bit helped me shake off some of the plateau feeling even if my speed hasnt jumped dramatically yet. also reading about how other people got through this part honestly helps too so thanks for posting this