Transfer of reading strategies from the first language (L1) to the second language (L2) has long puzzled educators, but what happens if the L1 is an alphabet language and the second is not, or if there is a mismatch in the languages' grapheme-phoneme connection? Although some students readily adjust to reading and writing in their second language, others do not. Research has shown that orthographic depth may play a role in how readily a student can transfer reading strategies from his or her L1 (e.g., Akamatsu, 2003; Muljani, Koda, & Moates, 1998; Seymour, Aro, & Erskine, 2003). If readers typically depend on their language's grapheme-phoneme connection or on visual cues in a nonalphabet language to develop word-recognition strategies, ESL students may become frustrated when the graphics or orthographic depth of the second language does not match that of the first and the process, thereby, crosses the "threshold" of orthographic complexity (Seymour et al., 2003). An unreliable connection challenges the student to adjust strategies appropriately in order to develop an automaticity that furthers reading competence. If the task is too difficult, cognitive load may inhibit the process.