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Three reasons why English spelling is confusing

In this week’s post, Akiko takes a look at the common problems associated with spelling in English, and reveals that these problems may run much deeper than you might expect.


I must confess that I wasn’t the best speller at the school. In my last blog post, I wrote about why I found it difficult to pronounce some English words and expressions. In this one, I want to look at why English spelling can be so confusing.

English spelling is described with expression such as ‘chaotic’, ’unpredictable’, ‘disorganised’ or ‘a mess’.
(Crystal, 2002, The English language – a guide tour of the language, p.69)

Why does this happen?

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