Learn Morse Code
Practise with the Koch method: hear a letter, type it, and unlock the next one when you get 90% right.
Level 1 of 40
K M
Trainer settings
| Letter | Code | Right |
|---|---|---|
| K | -.- | not yet |
| M | -- | not yet |
How to learn Morse code fast
Morse code is a language for the ear. Experienced operators do not see dots and dashes; they hear whole letters and even whole words, the way you hear a spoken word without spelling it. The quickest way to get there is to train that skill from the first day.
- Learn by ear. Listen to each letter as a sound pattern. Do not count dots and dashes, and do not start by memorizing a chart.
- Start with two letters. The trainer begins with K and M at 20 words per minute. That feels fast, and that is the point: you cannot count, so you learn the rhythm.
- Add a letter at 90%. When you get 90% of the last 20 letters right, the next letter of the Koch order unlocks:
K M U R E S N A P T L W I . J Z = F O Y , V G 5 / Q 9 2 H 3 8 B ? 4 7 C 1 D 6 0 X - Practise a little every day. Ten to twenty minutes a day beats an hour once a week. Stop when you start to feel tired; accuracy drops fast after that.
Why the Koch method works
The German psychologist Ludwig Koch found in the 1930s that people who learn Morse code slowly get stuck at about 10 words per minute. At slow speed a letter is a sequence of dots and dashes you decode one by one, and that habit has to be unlearned later. Learning at full speed from the start skips that plateau. The trade-off is that the first days feel hard, because you only have two or three letters and the speed seems high.
What to do when you get stuck
- Two letters keep getting mixed up? Look them up on the alphabet chart and play them one after the other until the difference is obvious.
- Stuck below 90% for days? Lower the letter speed by two or three words per minute for a session, then go back up.
- Ready for words? Type a sentence in the translator, cover the screen and press Play. Use Farnsworth spacing to give yourself time between letters.
Questions and answers
How long does it take to learn Morse code?
With 15 to 30 minutes of practice a day, most people can copy all letters at a slow speed within a few weeks. Reaching 20 words per minute usually takes a few months.
What is the Koch method?
A way to learn Morse code by ear, developed by the German psychologist Ludwig Koch in the 1930s. You start with just two letters at full speed and add a new one each time you copy 90% correctly. Because the letters are never slow, you learn their sound as a whole instead of counting dots and dashes.
Should I learn Morse code from a chart?
Use the chart to look things up, not to learn. People who memorize dots and dashes visually have to translate in their head and usually get stuck at slow speeds.
What speed should I practice at?
Characters at 18 to 20 words per minute, with extra space between them if you need time to think. That is Farnsworth spacing, and you can set it in the trainer.
Is my progress saved?
Yes. Your level and your scores are saved in your own browser, so you can continue where you left off. Nothing is sent to a server.