Why English Is So Hard to Learn to Read - and How to Fix It

If you're a student learning to read French, Italian, or Finnish, odds are you're decoding words with ease within a year. But if you're learning to read English? Expect a much longer road.

The reason lies in something called orthographic transparency—and English ranks among the most opaque languages in the world.

Download the Orthographic Transparency Infographic as PDF.

🔍 What Is Orthographic Transparency?

Orthographic transparency refers to the consistency between how words are written (orthography) and how they are pronounced (phonology).

• A transparent language has consistent spelling-sound rules (e.g., Spanish, Finnish)

• An opaque language (like English) has many exceptions, irregularities, and silent letters

💡 Why Orthographic Transparency Matters

A more transparent language helps children learn to read faster and more fluently by:

• Reducing cognitive load

• Improving phonological awareness

• Supporting vocabulary development

• Lowering the risk of reading difficulties and dyslexia

🚨 The Problem with English

English has:

• Only 26 letters, but 44+ phonemes

• Over 1,100 grapheme-phoneme correspondences

• Rules with many exceptions: one, gone, cough, love, give

As a result:

• English learners take 2–3 years longer to reach reading fluency

• Correct word reading after one year of instruction is lower than in more transparent languages like Finnish, Spanish, or Italian (Seymour et al., 2003)

✅ Readable English: Making English Transparent

Readable English transforms English into a phonetically transparent system using a simple markup:

• Unmarked letters = make usual sounds

• Grayed letters = are silent

• Glyphs = indicate when a letter makes an unusual sound

• Syllable breaks = help chunk words for easier decoding

🌍 Global Comparison: Why This Matters

Based on research from Seymour et al., orthographic transparency and syllabic structure impact how quickly students can learn to read. English ranks as:

• One of the most opaque and complex languages

• Slowest for developing fluent readers

• Most cognitively demanding for early learners

With Readable English, that complexity is removed—bringing English closer to the decoding simplicity of Spanish or Finnish.

📈 The Results

• Faster decoding

• Improved fluency

• Lower cognitive load

• Greater equity in literacy

Whether you're working with early readers, English language learners, or students with dyslexia, making English more transparent can change lives.

Want to see how Readable English works in action? Contact us or schedule a demo today!