English Has a Problem

It doesn't matter if you're a native speaker or if you're a beginner - there is something that happens to everyone when writing in English. It's something that you ask yourself from time to time. Do you know what it is?

"How do you spell this word?"

It's spelling! English spelling is confusing. It seems like a big problem, don't you think? It seems like there are no rules. English spelling so random that it seems like there is no reason behind it.

But what if I told you that there was a reason? What if I told you that there were multiple reasons? I'm happy to report that there are. Many (if not all) of the reasons for this dilemma are due to the history of the English language. Let's see how below:

The Alphabet

The English alphabet isn't English. It's actually Latin, which was from the Roman Empire. How did this happen? Why does English use an alphabet that's from a dead language? It's because of the French.

English was originally written with Germanic runes because it was a Germanic Language. French is written with the Latin alphabet because it is a Romance language (a language based on Latin). Then, in 1066, the Normans (a group from France) invaded Britain. They replaced the Germanic runes with the Latin alphabet. This caused some issues because there were sounds in English that couldn't be written in Latin script.

Vowel Sounds

English actually has about 20 vowel sounds. However., there are only five vowels in the alphabet (a, e i, o, and u)! Therefore, English vowel letters have to stand for more than one sound. A vowel could be pronounced one way in one word and then pronounced differently in the next. For example: "cat" and "table"

Changes Over Time

The sounds in a language will change over time - this is called a sound change. English has words that reflect these sound changes. For example: the words "chief" and "chef" are both borrowed from French. "Chief" is an older word and has a /tʃ/ sound. "Chef" is a newer word and has a /ʃ/ sound. Over time, the /tʃ/ sound changed into the /ʃ/ sound, but the spelling stayed the same.

Other Influences

English is a Germanic language that was heavily influenced by French. That is why there are so many French words in English! But did you know that English also has words from other languages in it? Those languages include Old Norse, Arabic, Greek, Dutch, and so on. This also influences the complexity of English spelling.

---

This list is not a full list of the reasons that English spelling is so complicated. But I hope that it helps to explain the English spelling problem.

So, don't be too discouraged when it comes to spelling! Even native English speakers have problems with it! You're not alone. Good luck and keep practicing!