English has so fucked up spelling mainly because it has nicked it's words from every which language and kept the original language's spelling and/or pronunciation for those particular words. In the end you can't know how every which words is written just by hearing it. Or can't make out a new words pronunciation with any confidence you see it in writing. Learning english is only somewhat better than learning Chinese characters, where there is no way to know how a word is spoken by reading the character or vice versa.