The famous Irish writer, George Bernard Shaw, once claimed that English spelling is so chaotic that ghoti could be pronounced "fish." (‘gh' is sometimes pronounced ‘f' as in "cough", ‘t' can sound like ‘sh' in "notion", etc.) Do you agree with Shaw's claim or do you find it exaggerated? Many of you enrolled in this class plan to be teachers and may have to explain why English spelling is so varied and unpredictable. Imagine what you will you say to your future students when they complain that learning English spelling is more difficult than it needs to be. Do you agree that reading and writing English would be easier if its spelling reflected pronunciation? That is, do you side with spelling reformers who would like to change English spelling to be more like how we pronounce words? Or, do you side with experts who say that spelling in English reflects specific historical influences and so is logical? In your blog for this week, draw from the experiences you have had learning English spelling.