Why is English so hard to pronounce?

English is hard to pronounce because it is, strictly speaking, more than one language. Some of the words have been adopted from at least a dozen other languages, some are mixtures of other words, and others are words that have been created from roots of dead languages.

The language has experienced many changes over the years as it came into contact with other languages, and various dialects even developed into other English languages, like Scots and the dialects of Ireland.

The British Empire helped introduce English throughout the world as established colonies throughout the world, and those places developed their own norms for how to speak and write the language. In the 20th century, the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States, along with worldwide broadcasting by the BBC and other broadcasters, significantly accelerated the spread of the language across the planet.

By the 21st century, English became the first truly global language thanks to its use in commerce, science, technology, diplomacy, art and formal education. It is now more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been, and is probably the third largest language spoken by native speakers (after Mandarin and Spanish.)

A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of occupations and professions (such as medicine and computing) and most articles in natural science publications are written in English.

Even so, no one national authority sets the standard for the use of the English language. English spoken in broadcasting uses pronunciation standards that have been established by custom, rather than regulation--and broadcasters usually have an identifiable accent. Written news scripts use "standard written English" but that standard is maintained by the consensus of English speakers throughout the world, without any oversight by any organization.

As a result, the language has more vowel sounds than Spanish, consonants can be pronounced in different ways, syllables can start with up to three different consonant sounds, and some sounds are "voiced" and some are "voiceless." And if that isn't confusing enough, some syllables are stressed, while others aren't, and some words have weak and strong forms, depending on their positions in a sentence.

No wonder English is so hard to pronounce!