[Aloisius]

Does most people who learn English as a second language learn both how to read and speak at the same time?

Native English speakers (as with all languages) learn how to speak years before they learn how to read. This makes inconsistencies in letter sounds irrelevant to having good conversational English and leaves learning the inconsistencies later, where you learn common rules that cover most of the language and absorb all the rule breakers while reading.