In Germany, a few years after I was out of primary school, they started teaching writing not anymore with a beginner's reading/spelling book but let the kids write the way they were hearing the words.

Which has led to a whole generation or two who don't learn how to spell correctly when they start writing and have to re-learn how to spell. Which, for many many children, doesn't happen. It's a travesty, really.

(German is easier on the phonetics than English, but we still have a few quirks with the diphthongs and the ss/ß spelling.)