Learn Morse Code

How these lessons work

The lessons follow the Koch method, published in 1936 by the German engineer Ludwig Koch: letters play at full speed from the start, you begin with just two of them, and a new letter is added once you copy the current set with 90% accuracy. Here, 90% of your last 25 answers unlocks the next letter. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Listen, don't count

At real speed there is no time to count dots. Each letter should become a sound you recognise, the way you recognise a word. That is why the letter speed stays high and only the gaps between letters get longer while you learn (Farnsworth timing). Keep letter speed at 18 WPM or more and slow down with the overall speed instead.

It helps to say letters the way they sound, not the way they look: A is "di-dah", not "dot dash", and B is "dah-di-di-dit". Hum or say each new letter as you learn it, and avoid learning from a printed chart first. A chart teaches you to picture dots and dashes, and picturing them is the step that slows you down later.

Four ways to practise

• Lessons: hear a letter, type or tap what it was.
• Listening quiz: hear a letter, pick it from four.
• Reading quiz: see the dots and dashes, pick the letter.
• Sending practice: send a word with the tap key or the space bar. The key follows your own rhythm.

Little and often

Short sessions on most days work better than one long one. When you can hear the letters, move to sending: good sending sounds like the audio you learned from.

When the lessons feel easy, move on to the CW generator for random groups at your own speed, the Morse code game for quick rounds, and the online keyer to practise sending.