The Spelling Society (SSS), which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, says it’s time for the English language to drag itself into the modern world, leaving behind 15th century spelling rules that have no place in the 21st century.

After my son proudly produced his first hand-written book, delightfully entitled “Imfmashen about plarnts” and peppered with details about “leevs” and “roots ” and “barc”, my sympathy for children (and teachers) across the English-speaking world
deepened.

How is it possible that the spelling such words as “cough” and “although” and “through” should be so similar when they sound so different?

In some ways, it would seem a shame to reduce our often beautiful and eccentric language to a series of text-message-like phonetics, but when you consider the cost of
teaching spelling to our children –  the SSS estimates it at an eye-watering £18 million a year in Britain alone — the argument gains some weight.

In other languages, like Spanish, learning the alphabet gives you immediate access to be able to read, spell and pronounce every word — even those you have never come across and don’t understand.

And with Spanish competing with English as the world’s most dominant language, is it time for the English-speaking world to modernise or die.