languages that use phonetic spelling are easier to learn to spell than others. with phonetic spelling the words are spelled as they are pronounced. the italian word "orologio" for instance is pronounced oh-ro-lo-jo ("gi" always making a "j" sound.) in english, one comes across the word "knife". in "knife", the "k" is not spoken, even though in english it's more common to pronounce "k"s when they are in words.