Talk:Morse code mnemonics
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[edit] Not the final word
This article was created to get the mnemonics off of the morse code article. The mnemonic(s) listed on this article are not the final word. If you have other mnemonics for learning or remembering morse code, please add a new table. Phauge 17:18, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
- Good call, Phague!
I created the [NATO Phonetic Alphabet] Mnemonic. I'm currently working on some new ones, (for punctuation, etc), and the original "Morse Code" article was ALREADY getting awfully cluttered. :P Pine 04:29, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
I only have a comment and it is that "Romero" is not spanish for "Romeo". Romero is a plant of some sort, I think it's used in cuisine. 190.19.14.235 (talk) 00:01, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Mnemonics fail at faster speeds
The only problem with techniques like mnemonics, flashcards, and the like, is that they create a mental "lookup table" in your head that you have to link to the correct Morse code character. On slower speeds like 5wpm this is fine, but if you ever need to increase your speed beyond, say, 12wpm (a typical speed barrier for most people learning Morse code), then you're going to get stuck with almost no hope of copying any faster; these aids become a crutch.
One of the proven methods to learning to copy fast code is the Koch method, where you learn the characters one character at a time by hearing. If you can copy better than 90% at a particular stage, you can add a character. When you add a character, you cumulatively increase the character list in your random word lists. Most people suggest using Farnsworth characters. Koch was a psychologist who researched techniques to teach Navy radio officers the Morse code in the smallest amount of time possible. I think his method was able to get one class of students to proficiency in 13 hours (straight, I believe). However, current suggestion is to limit learning to 15-30 minute stretches, preferably once per day. Any longer and you get tired of copying and the code stops making sense. I was able to pass the 5wpm Morse code exam for my amateur radio license with one month of training using the Koch method. I had to "untrain" myself in one of the bad techniques, looking at the dots and dashes sequence of each character on a flashcard. --Altailji 02:18, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
