35 Times the English Language Was Unnecessarily Confusing

Someone pointed out that it makes them really uncomfortable how the word Australia contains three As, and all of them are pronounced differently: The first A is pronounced like an “O,” the second A is pronounced like an “E,” and the third A is the only one actually pronounced like an “A.”

Can anyone explain this? How can one letter have so many pronunciations? How is anyone learning English meant to learn how to read words? You could read a word according to what you’re taught, and then a word like “Australia” comes along that throws you for a loop.