Is nothing sacred anymore? After decades of having the rule (it was even made into a Charlie Brown song), the British government is ditching it:
Advice sent to teachers says there are too few words which follow the rule and recommends using more modern methods to teach spelling to schoolchildren.
The document, entitled Support for Spelling, is being distributed to more than 13,000 primary schools. [...]
It says: "The i before e rule is not worth teaching. It applies only to words in which the ie or ei stands for a clear ee sound. Unless this is known, words such as sufficient and veil look like exceptions.
"There are so few words where the ei spelling for the ee sounds follows the letter c that it is easier to learn the specific words." These include receive, ceiling, perceive and deceit.
The document recommends other ways to teach pupils spelling, like studying television listings for compound words, changing the tense of a poem to practise irregular verbs and learning about homophones through jokes such as "How many socks in a pair? None — because you eat a pear."
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Definition
lent (LEND)
past simple and past participle of lend
eg I lent her my handkerchief.
Learnt is the past simple and past participle of learn.
eg He learnt his lesson.
"Learned" is defined thus:
learned
adjective FORMAL
describes someone who has studied for a long time and has a lot of knowledge:
eg a learned professor
From Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
The other words you cited fall into the same category. Americans attempt to distort the language but for reference you should always consult an English, English dictionary if you are going to complain about the use of allegedly, non-existent words. Especially as this topic is about the English not the Americans.
"Limey guv to kids: Lern English good"