[CW] How to get proficient in morse?

Tue Oct 11 21:29:03 EDT 2011

Up to a point, the younger they are, the easier they learn.  I have taught the code to many a Boy Scout - usually around the age of 11-12.  They learn it quite easily when they try, and pay attention.  One boy was able to learn the entire alphabet and numbers, plus punctuation marks in 30 minutes -- to the point he passed his Novice code test at that time.  Others have sat with me in a class and passed it in a weeks time, with me sending manually at 20 wpm, with 5 wpm spacing.  Adults too, have been in my classes, but most always take more time- though one did it in a week at the 1985 National Boy Scout Jamboree , along with a handful of boys.  You can see an article about the Jamboree by Googling it.  

My method is to use groups of letters ( E T A I ON S - is the first group) and send that until everyone can copy on paper at 100 percent.  Then I make up words, using only the letters in that group (THE, THAN, TAN, TEST, NAT, NATION, etc. )  Once I see they are copying the words perfectly, we move on to sentences ( "Eat Tan Tea" etc.)  I then add the next group of letters, one at a time, continuing to send the letters in the first group, then add the next etc. as I see them continue to get good to perfect copy. At the end of the second group, I again make up words using the two groups, and then sentences.  

 At a one-on-one session it is easier, because no one holds back the one student, and we can move rapidly along to the different groups, with period, question mark, quotes, etc added as we go).  Remember, this sending is at 20 wpm, with longer spacing between letters.  As I see a student sitting and waiting for the next letter, I can decrease the spacing and soon he will be copying 20 wpm, without even knowing all the alphabet.

Over a 50 year period I have taught hundreds of (mostly Scouts) people using this method, and it really does work. That includes a few that "simply cannot learn the code" after having tried for years, with different methods.  

Danny Douglas
N7DC
ex WN5QMX ET2US WA5UKR ET3USA SV0WPP VS6DD N7DC/YV5 G5CTB
All 2 years or more (except Novice). Short stints at:  DA/PA/SU/HZ/7X/DU
CR9/7Y/KH7/5A/GW/GM/F
Pls QSL direct, buro, or LOTW preferred,
I Do not use, but as a courtesy do upload to eQSL for those who do.  
Moderator
DXandTALK
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk
Digital_modes
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital_modes/?yguid=341090159

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Radio K0HB 
  To: CW Reflector 
  Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:04 PM
  Subject: Re: [CW] How to get proficient in morse?

  John, that’s a great story.

  Not because it has anything to do with morse code, but because it has to do with Grandpa and Grandson.

  Reminds me of an old song, “Old dogs and Children, and Watermelon Wine”

  73, Hans, K0HB

  From: John Westerlage 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 12:50 AM
  To: CW Reflector 
  Subject: Re: [CW] How to get proficient in morse?

  After reading several of these posts, I finally decided to relate what I'm doing with my four-year-old grandson.

  We are currently going through the McGuffey Readers (continuously published from 1836-1960).

  After progressing through the fifth lesson in the first reader, it suddenly dawned on me that Zachary could learn the Morse code for each word as readily as he could the printed word.

  Using ebook2cw  <http://fkurz.net/ham/ebook2cw.html>, I put the whole first reader into Morse at 40 WPM.  That may sound like an excessive speed, but after floundering around for about the first twenty words or so, he "got it."

  He never questions the speed, or the method, or anything else.  That's the way he learned it and that's all there is to it.

  After about the tenth lesson, when reasonably long sentences started to occur, he had zero problems doing what we call "head copy."  Now he hears entire paragraphs and, while he doesn't use a "stick," he can paraphrase what he's heard with a high degree of accuracy.

  When he thinks at all about the difference between spoken language and Morse, he just thinks of it as a secret language that he and grandpa know and use.  He doesn't know that the code is supposed to be hard to learn, so he just does it.

  He shows quite a bit of pride in being able to "translate" for his parents and other grandparents what he's hearing on the radio.  He's still quite shaky on that, though, since we haven't spent much time yet on abbreviations, Q-signs, etc.

  He's starting to learn sending on my Bencher paddles and my homebrew hacksaw Cootie key.  I haven't yet decided whether to let him try the bug, but intuition tells me it probably wouldn't be a good move at this point.

  As soon as he can grasp some electronics, I suppose he'll be getting licensed.

  Finally, let me point out that Zachary is no Einstein, [except to his mother  ;-)  ], he's just an average, healthy kid who has had a somewhat unusual environment.

  I wish now that I hadn't deleted the MP3s, but he doesn't need them anymore anyway.  I could have shared them, but they're easy enough to redo with ebook2cw.

  I hope this helps encourage some folks out there.

  John, N5DWI
  CW Fanatic since 1956

    -------- Original Message --------
    Subject: [CW] How to get proficient in morse?
    From: "Michiel Wories" <mwories at hotmail.com>
    Date: Mon, October 10, 2011 10:23 pm
    To: "CW Reflector" <CW at mailman.qth.net>

    Hi,

    This is probably a question that pops from time to time. I had been learning morse code a while ago using the Koch method. I was able to reliably copy code at decent speed, but making a transition in copying real QSO’s seems a transition is seems hard.

    I read various articles about the do’s and don’ts and various learning techniques.

    I seem to be able to stuck however, when I am trying to copy a real QSO the brain goes in overload. Not even mentioning sending code.

    What helped you learn this? I realize not everyone learns the same, but I’d like to get some of the collective wisdom of this group.

    I also have a feeling having a practice buddy may help. Is there a system for this, ideally through the internet?

    I have to note I have limited time available. Maybe this is the core of the problem, but if there is a way to get there gradually, I’d love to know.

    Thanks,
    Michiel W7MJW

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ______________________________________________________________
    CW mailing list
    Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw
    Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
    Post: mailto:CW at mailman.qth.net
    CW List ARCHIVES: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/

    This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
    Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

    =30= 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  ______________________________________________________________
  CW mailing list
  Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw
  Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
  Post: mailto:CW at mailman.qth.net
  CW List ARCHIVES: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/

  This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
  Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

  =30=

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  ______________________________________________________________
  CW mailing list
  Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw
  Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
  Post: mailto:CW at mailman.qth.net
  CW List ARCHIVES: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/

  This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
  Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

  =30=
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/attachments/20111011/2dedf7e8/attachment.html 