Pattern recognition is inherent to the human condition, rules are not.

The English language is difficult to learn. Using rules is worthless because there are so many exceptions to the rules. The English language is best learned by understanding the patterns of letters and the sounds those patterns represent. Specifically the long ‘a’ sound can be represented by the letter pattern ‘eigh’. I.E. weigh, weight, eight, sleigh, neighbor, neigh, and freight. The long ‘a’ sound can also be represented by ‘ey’, ‘ei’.

Clostridium, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons