So You Want to
Learn Morse Code – Here Are Some Tips
Like music, some people seem to have
a natural talent to learn the Morse code effortlessly. During World
War II it was common practice to gather a few hundred military recruits
into a hall, introduce them to the World of “dahs and dits,” and wash
out the majority within two weeks. Those remaining “geniuses” became
the wireless Aces of the War.
For most students, gaining control
over the flow and rhythm of the sounds proved to be an arduous and
fearsome task. Code practice machines used at this time consisted of
paper rolls about an inch wide that ran past a light source. The rolls
were perforated to create, from the electric eye, an almost perfectly
sounded string of Morse code letters, numbers and messages. The
student was systematically introduced to the character sound, as the
instructor called out the letter’s name. Soon another string of dots
and dashes was added and another until a dizzying array of dahs and
dits swam in the student’s head. Since the practice sessions often
lasted several hours or more, errors were practiced over and over and
then when the paralyzing test was given, anxiety ran high with
frustration and failure common.
Over the years, most students try to
learn Morse code in just this same manner. It is no wonder that when
the FCC decided to eliminate the code testing for amateur radio
licenses that a great sigh of relief came from many long frustrated
“would-be” hams.
However, another method appears to
have gained many adherents. In the English speaking countries and in
other language parts of the world, Morse code is being taught using a
mnemonic system that mimics the sound of the code in the language of
the learner. The dahs and dits can be heard as simple words and
phrases instead. With this method and only forty characters to learn,
a high percentage of students succeed at mastery.
It appears that the brain is capable
of learning language quite readily when meaning is attached to sounds.
Without meaning in the sounds themselves, the brain has no handles to
make an attachment, causing the symbols to become hopelessly mixed. A
mnemonic device is defined as: “any learning technique that aids
memory. Commonly, mnemonics are verbal (such as a very short poem or a
special word used to help a person remember something) but may be
visual, kinesthetic or auditory. (Wikipedia.com) Mnemonics rely on
associations between easy-to-remember constructs which can be related
back to the data that is to be remembered. This is based on the
principle that the typical human mind much more easily remembers
spatial, personal, surprising, sexual, humorous or otherwise meaningful
information than seemingly arbitrary sequences.” The seemingly random
string of dahs and dits of the letter take on meaning from the
associated mnemonic. Thus the letter “D” might be more readily
remembered as “Dog did it” instead of “Dah di di.” Attach a picture of
a hapless canine and “presto” the symbol is forever remembered.
Persons learning the Morse code this
way find that they can master the code in a matter of days instead of
months and that there really can be a lot of pleasure in acquiring and
using this universal foreign language skill.
