English spelling reform

[Linaewen]

From Mark Twain's speeches
"What is the real function, the essential function, the supreme function, of language? Isn't it merely to convey ideas and emotions? Certainly. Then if we can do it with words of fonetic brevity and compactness, why keep the present cumbersome forms?"

English has one of the most difficult and inconsistent spelling systems in the world. Many other languages have updated their spelling systems, with spelling reforms for German, Dutch and some Scandinavian languages to name a few. Even Chinese, which doesn't even have an alphabet, has simplified its spelling successfully. And Chinese has more speakers than English does.

Spelling reforms would make English much easier to learn and to spell, even for native speakers. I've read that if you had a small card with explanations of pronunciation for Spanish, you could get around in a Spanish speaking country with relatively correct pronunciation. A card for the same purpose for English would be roughly the size of a fridge.

There are many arguments for a spelling reform, some of which can be found at some sites including
Why English spelling should be updated

What do you think? Would a spelling reform be too impractical? But if it worked for Chinese, with a vastly different & incredibly complex spelling system, why not English?