>first learning the letters and the sounds they make. Then starting to read words by "sounding them out."
This is called "phonics" and was universal until recently. The 1980s had commercials advertising "Hooked on Phonics works for me." - Hooked on Phonics being a books on tape program to help children read.
TFA says phonics was popularized in the 1800s.
That's how writing used to work for the longest time. Each letter has a sound, and you write down the letters that match the sounds you make when pronouncing the word. Two people might not spell a word the same, so the only viable way to learn would be what is now apparently called phonics.
We only really started to standardize spelling in the 1500s. Which I guess means that by the 1800s English spelling and pronunciation had drifted far enough apart that phonics was a concept worth putting in words.
In most languages with alphabets the pronunciation of letters is consistent enough that the issue doesn't seem to come up a lot. Phonics is just the obvious way to do it in those cases
Arabic is very phonic. I found it pleasurable to learn a little of it. Like a lisp after using c++!
But you have to guess every vowel, correct?