Practice Morse Code
Two modes, two different skills. Tap mode uses just two buttons — dot and dash — the same way the Google Gboard Morse keyboard works. Listen mode plays a signal and you pick the letter. One trains your hands, the other trains your ear.
How practice works
Both modes use letters from the Learn lessons. Complete more Learn lessons to unlock more characters in practice. Every correct answer builds your streak. Your best streak and accuracy are saved automatically.
Sending and Receiving Are Different Skills — Practice Both
Morse code practice has two directions, and they use different parts of your memory. Two-Button Tap is sending practice: you hear a signal and rebuild it dot by dot, the same recall you'd use on a real key or on the Morse keyboard built into Android's Gboard. Listen and Pick is receiving practice: you hear a code and identify the character, which is the skill you need to copy real transmissions. Most self-taught learners drill only one direction and are surprised how weak the other is — a letter you can send instantly can still stump you when someone else sends it. Alternate between the two modes and the codes anchor from both sides.
What Counts as a Good Morse Code Speed?
Morse speed is measured in words per minute (WPM), using the reference word PARIS — chosen because it is exactly 50 units long including spacing. Send PARIS five times in a minute and you're doing 5 WPM. Here's how speeds map to real-world ability:
Don't chase speed by slowing the characters down. The proven approach (Farnsworth timing) keeps each character at its natural full-speed rhythm and gives you extra silence between characters instead — so the sound shape you memorize today is the same one you'll hear at 20 WPM.
The Letters Everyone Mixes Up
Morse code errors aren't random — they cluster in predictable pairs that differ by a single signal. If your accuracy stalls, the culprit is almost always on this list. Drill the pair back to back until the difference is a feeling, not a count:
| Pair | Codes | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|---|
| E vs I | · / ·· | One tap vs a quick double-tap — "dit" vs "di-dit" |
| T vs M | − / −− | One long tone vs two — "dah" vs "dah-dah" |
| S vs H | ··· / ···· | Don't count — S skips, H rattles a beat longer |
| U vs V | ··− / ···− | Both end on a dash; V winds up with one extra dot |
| D vs B | −·· / −··· | Same start, B trails one more dot |
| G vs W | −−· / ·−− | Mirror images — G leans long-first, W short-first |
| K vs R | −·− / ·−· | Both are sandwiches — K has dash bread, R has dot bread |
A 30-Day Morse Code Practice Plan
Five to ten minutes a day, four weeks, alternating the two drill modes above. This is the same progression the lessons follow — use this page as the daily gym for whatever the lessons just taught you:
| Week | Focus | Daily routine |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E T I A N M + S O | 3 min Listen & Pick on the newest letters, 3 min Two-Button Tap on yesterday's. Aim for 90% before adding a letter. |
| 2 | Rest of the alphabet | Add 2–3 letters a day in Koch order, always mixing new letters with the full set you know. Keep sessions short — stop while it's still fun. |
| 3 | Numbers + problem pairs | Digits are five signals each with a regular pattern — one day covers them. Spend the rest of the week drilling your personal confusions from the pair table above. |
| 4 | Words and speed | Decode real words on the quiz, chase high scores in Signal Storm, and re-run drills here with a faster gap. By day 30 the alphabet should feel automatic. |
Missing a day doesn't reset you — recall consolidates between sessions. And if the drill feels sterile, send a friend a secret Morse message using what you've learned; a reply you have to decode is the best homework there is. The full day-by-day version is in the 30-day learning plan.