English is not Phonetic

Some languages are "phonetic". That means you can look at a written word and know how to pronounce it. Or you can hear a word and know how to spell it. With phonetic languages, there is a direct relationship between the spelling and the sound.
It is important to understand that English is not a phonetic language. So we often do not say a word the same way it is spelled.
Some words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation, for example:

• I like to read [ri:d].
• I have read [red] that book.

Some words have different spelling but the same pronunciation, for example:

• I have read [red] that book.
• My favourite colour is red [red].

You can listen to these four sentences here.
Students sometimes ask: "Why is English so difficult to pronounce?" This is really the wrong question. The right question would be: "Why is English so difficult to spell?"
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