How the trainer works
- Press Start the session. Groups of five random characters play for the time you chose, and you type each character as you hear it.
- Don’t stop to think. If a character goes by before you recognize it, skip it and catch the next one.
- When the session ends, you see your accuracy, and what was sent next to what you typed, with your errors marked.
- Copy 90% or more in a session that sends at least 50 characters, and the next character is added. The newest character comes up twice as often as the others, so you hear it plenty.
- You can go back to any lesson you’ve unlocked, from the Lesson menu.
The Koch method
The German psychologist Ludwig Koch worked out this way of learning Morse in the 1930s. Instead of learning every character slowly and then trying to speed up, you learn characters at the full speed you want to reach, a couple at a time. At that speed, there’s no time to count dots and dashes, so each character becomes one sound, a rhythm you recognize, the way you recognize a spoken word.
That’s why the trainer starts at 20 words per minute and never goes below 15: slow characters are easy to count, and counting is the habit that stops learners from getting faster. Most people need a few sessions per character. Short sessions every day work better than long ones once a week.
The characters come in the order used by LCWO, Learn CW Online: K M U R E S N A P T L W I . (period) J Z = (equals sign) F O Y , (comma) V G 5 / (slash) Q 9 2 H 3 8 B ? (question mark) 4 7 C 1 D 6 0 X. Published Koch orders differ a little; they all start with characters that sound very different from each other.
Farnsworth spacing
With Farnsworth spacing on, each character still sounds at the full character speed, but the gaps between characters and groups are longer, so the overall speed is slower. It gives you time to recognize each character without slowing the characters themselves. Turn it off, or raise the overall speed, as you get faster. Your results show which timing each session used.
Questions
What does copying mean?
Writing down, or typing, what you hear as it’s sent. Radio operators call receiving Morse “copying”.
How is accuracy worked out?
What you typed is compared with what was sent, ignoring spaces. Every character wrong, left out or extra counts as one error, and accuracy is 1 minus the errors divided by the characters sent.
Why did I lose my progress?
Progress is kept in your browser’s storage, with no account. Safari deletes it when you haven’t visited for about a week, and clearing your browsing data deletes it anywhere. Load your progress code to get it back. Without one, it can’t be recovered, because nothing is stored anywhere else.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. Use headphones if you can, and type on the phone’s keyboard. Autocorrect is turned off in the field.
What comes after all 41 characters?
Raise the character speed a little, or turn Farnsworth spacing off, and keep practising. Then listen to real Morse: amateur radio operators send it on the air every day.
Keyboard
| Enter | Finish a session early |
|---|---|
| Escape | Finish a session early |
| Tab | Move between the settings and buttons |
More Morse code
- Morse Code Translator: text to Morse and back, with sound, light and a printable chart
- Morse Code Alphabet Quiz: name the letter or number for each code, against the clock
- Secret Morse Code Decoder for kids: decode animal names and beep your own name, in our Kids section
More to play
- El Word: One hidden word a day. Six guesses to find it.
- Stroop Test: Name the ink, not the word. How much does reading slow you down?
- Typing Speed Test: Type the words as they come. How many words a minute, and how accurately?
- Morse Code Alphabet: Read the dots and dashes: name the letter or number for every Morse code.
- Morse Code Translator: Type text to get Morse code, or Morse code to get text. Hear it, see it flash, download it.
- Greek Alphabet: Name all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, from their shapes.
- NATO Phonetic Alphabet: Name the code word for every letter, A to Z.
- 100 Most Common English Words: Name the 100 words that turn up most often in classic novels.
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