so ive been licensed for about 8 months now, mostly just doing FM stuff on my handheld and some SSB on 40m but i keep hearing about CW and people seem really into it. i tried to look up how to learn morse code and theres like a million different opinions and apps and websites and i dont really know where to begin or what method is actually good vs just popular.

i downloaded one app that just shows you the dots and dashes visually and i feel like thats probably the wrong way to go based on something i read somewhere but i cant remember where. someone at my club mentioned the Koch method but didnt really explain it. is that the standard way people do it now or is it outdated? i guess my main question is just... where do i actually start and how long does it realistically take before i can hear anything on the air and understand it

yeah forget the visual dots and dashes thing, thats going to make your life harder down the road when you try to copy at any real speed. the whole point is to hear a letter as a sound, not translate it in your head from a chart.

Koch method is solid and its what most people recommend these days. the idea is you start with just 2 characters at full speed, like 20wpm or whatever, and you only add a new character when you can copy the ones you know at like 90% accuracy. LCWO dot net is the website most people use for this, its free and a bit ugly but it works. theres also the Just Learn Morse Code software which some people prefer.

honestly the other thing i'd say is just listen to actual QSOs on the air even before you can copy anything. tune around 7.030 or so in the evenings and just let it wash over you. you start recognizing rhythms without even realizing it. took me maybe 4 or 5 months of doing 15-20 minutes a day before i felt like i could pick out callsigns and common words without struggling too hard. everybody is different though.

im in basically the same boat as you, started using the Morse Mania app on my phone like 3 weeks ago and idk if im doing it right either lol. someone told me to try Ham Morse which is also an app and seems a bit more structured. i think the Koch thing is what both of them use or at least something similar.

one thing that actually helped me weirdly was just making a custom playlist of the letters as audio files and listening on my commute. probably not the most scientific method but it at least got the sounds stuck in my head