We Need to Let Go of the Dots and Dashes

Morse Code is great, but visual mnemonics like “dots and dashes” are terrible.

There’s a good article in the July/August 2024 issues of On the Air, ARRL’s magazine geared toward new hams, that offers advice on learning the Morse Code.

I’m all for this. I love Morse Code, and it’s still a useful (and fun!) skill that all hams should have at least a minimal working knowledge of an appreciation for.[1]

The author, TJ Johnson (K9KJ), offers a straightforward (and exactly correct) approach for learning the Code:

  1. Learn the characters.
  2. Add complexity.
  3. Increase speed.

He also includes this extremely valuable advice:

And this is where things get dicey.

The article is accompanied by this visualization of the letters and numbers:

Letters and numbers, shown in ”dots and dashes” representation of Morse Code
Letters and numbers, shown in ”dots and dashes” representation of Morse Code

I’m assuming that this is an editorial choice on the part of the publisher and not the doing of the Mr Johnson, since he actually goes out of his way to advise readers NOT to think about the “dots and dashes.” Unfortunately, it will likely reinforce in some people’s minds that they should make a visual connection between what they here and what it means. This is highly detrimental to learning any language, not just Morse Code.

While it’s a tempting artistic device, the dots and dashes really are not useful to learning the Code. We need to let go of them altogether.[2]

  1. Thanks to David Patton, for helping me to refine my position here. ↩︎

  2. Previously used the word “abandon” here, but I think “let go” better captures my intended sentiment. ↩︎