A 1960s schools experiment that created a new alphabet

Reading ITA: Difficulty and Experience

• Many native and non‑native speakers report that ITA text is immediately readable, sometimes nearly as fast as normal English, once the new glyphs are mentally mapped.
• Others find it noticeably slower and unpleasant, likening it to reading jumbled-letter memes: intelligible but cognitively heavier.
• Mature readers normally recognize whole words; ITA forces more “sounding out,” which some see as the main contrast for adults.
• Several people note that adjustment might be rapid with exposure, similar to written accents or alternate orthographies.

Pedagogical Role vs. Orthographic Reform

• Core criticism: as a temporary teaching system, ITA forces children to learn two writing systems and then unlearn the first, causing spelling confusion and impairing transfer to standard English.
• Multiple commenters argue ITA would have made more sense as:
  • A permanent, phonemic spelling reform for English, or
  • An annotative layer taught alongside standard spelling (like Japanese furigana) rather than a replacement.
• Others mention similar ideas (e.g., only altering lower halves of letters for phonetic guidance).

Spelling Reform, Phonetics, and Dialects

• Strong consensus that English spelling is highly irregular and burdensome; examples like “through/though/thought” and the long pronunciation poem are cited.
• Various reform schemes are discussed (SoundSpel, SR1, IPA-based systems); some think existing readers could adapt quickly, especially in a digital world with toggleable spellings.
• Major obstacles raised:
  • Diversity of English accents (e.g., “data,” “bath,” “house,” “pen”) makes a single phonetic mapping contentious.
  • Historical depth and etymology, and the massive legacy of printed material.
  • Political/institutional resistance; large-scale reform seen as practically impossible.
• Related debates surface over gender‑neutral pronouns (“he,” “they,” “it”) and whether new forms are needed.

Broader Reflections on Educational Experiments

• Commenters connect ITA to a wider pattern of untested or poorly tested educational fads (whole language, “brain gym,” “new math,” tech‑first classrooms).
• Some describe 1960s–70s experimental schools (open-plan, team teaching, unusual architecture) with mixed nostalgia and skepticism.
• Several argue pedagogy is often driven by fashion, ideology, and consultants rather than solid longitudinal evidence or ethics-style oversight of large-scale experiments on children.