I learned International Morse about 50 years ago.  I was about 12 years old when I started.  Here are some memories...

Naturally, I first did the worst thing and looked at a chart of the "dots and dashes".   I knew what CW sounded like from TV and movies, but I did not have a way to hear really slow CW being sent.  So initially I was memorizing the characters visually - not the best start.  

For more proper receiving practice, I borrowed Morse Code record albums (some were 78s!) from the library.  Of course today there are many computerized ways to generate practice CW or download audio files that would be much better than those records.   For many years I've recommended the website     https://www.aa9pw.com/     but I'm sure there are others as well.

In those early days, I did not have a receiver with a BFO, so I could only hear a tone when CW signals beat against each other or some other signal.  My random experimenting revealed that I could hear some CW if I adjusted the trimmer screws on an AM radio - looking back I think I was shifting the receiver down to the maritime MF range below the AM broadcast band, and I was probably hearing ships and shore stations around the Great Lakes (I lived in NE Ohio as a kid).  Still no BFO, but I discovered that if I put two radios side-by-side I could get a continuous beat note - maybe the local oscillator or spur of it from radio A was serving as the BFO for radio B.  Of course, that Morse was pretty fast for me but it let me hear the real thing.

For sending practice, I accidentally discovered that if I put my fingers between two points on the PC board of my CB walkie-talkie I'd get a squeal from the speaker.  I connected my super-cheap telegraph key from Radio Shack across those points and now had a code practice oscillator!  The pitch wasn't right but it let me get started sending.

About this time several of like-minded young friends (we met on local CB) started hanging around a neighborhood ham who would send slowly for us as practice.  I remember he had a nice code practice oscillator in a metal cabinet that was based on one or two tubes. That was a real boost to my CW learning experience.   We also sent to each other.

Another ham gave me the Novice test (maybe one had to be a higher license level to proctor the exams?).  I think he must have told me that I'd passed as I felt quite certain I would get a license. 

Pooling my money with some additional funds from my grandmother (she was always a supporter of my boyhood projects - still miss her) which allowed me to buy a used Heathkit HW-16 and I put up a random wire antenna.  Finally I could listen to the 80, 40, and 15 meter CW bands and get on the air myself when the license finally came three months later.  I remember reading copies of QST at the library and discovered W1AW practice around this time.

A couple months after that, I added a used shortwave receiver with a BFO - the Allied Knight R-100 - and could hear CW on all the bands and AM and SSB as well.