[SceptileMaster]

Oh I do realize it and agree with what you are saying. I realize that it's mostly to do with education. The only problem is, going about English spelling phonetically is insane. Which is why I'm saying being formally taught English as a second language can turn out good spellers (as they are learning how to spell each word as they learn them). I know many people (native speakers) that can hardly spell at all and they all went through years of education. I'm sure however this is also true in Japan with Kanji knowledge. I'm sure there are many who can't remember all the Kanji they were taught in school.