The English language is notorious for difficult spelling and pronunciation, which can make learning the language quite hard.  Time and time again, frustrated students ask “why can’t you just write it as you say it?! Like Spanish!” Well, every native speaker has had problems with spelling and pronunciation at some point too. When English was first formed by the Anglo-Saxons, spelling and pronunciation were really simple.  It was written as it was spoken.  However, the situation changed...