English is the Chinese of alphabetic scripts: every word has a fixed graphical representation, some parts of which are there for their approximate phonetic value, some provide semantic clues, while others defy any explanation. When reading aloud, you need to analyze whole words and occasionally entire sentences - but you're still not guaranteed to
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"Western powers should have known Putin would try to make a move for Crimea because he referred to it years ago as a crucial asset of the Russian Federation, as he's referred to the breakup of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century." -- "How the West lost Crimea", Oren Dorell, USA TODAY