Letters That English Writes but Doesn't Say

Arabic spelling is a fairly reliable guide to pronunciation, so it's natural to expect English letters to always be pronounced too — but English is famous for silent letters left over from centuries of borrowed and changed words. Take 'knife' (the k is silent), 'walk' (the l is silent), and 'island' (the s is silent) — all three keep letters purely for spelling history, not sound. This isn't a personal mistake to fix so much as a quirk to memorize word by word. A helpful two-minute activity: write down five tricky English words you've noticed with silent letters, say each one out loud focusing only on the sounds you actually hear, then circle the silent letter in each word. Building this kind of list over time turns confusing spelling into a manageable, even fun, puzzle. Every new silent-letter word you learn makes the next one easier to spot!