

It sounds like you’re thinking about the words and playing with them, which is always a good way to learn. I remember being a kid and laughing about g-nats and k-nees. You know, when you say all the letters and really exaggerate. After a while, you just know it.
My go-to is to look at the word for a while, listen to the pronunciation a few times, and try to say it. If I hear the word again, I can usually see it too. I get a transcript in my head when someone says something, or even when I think something. It’s just always there.
If I forget the spelling, the transcript will get blurry or stop. So it’s usually easy to remember the spelling, and if I forget it, I really want to look it up.
There wouldn’t be any “h” if you thought of it in terms of Spanish sounds.
If you really get into the weeds, the funky spelling can sometimes give you a clue about how the word is pronounced. (But only sometimes.) For example, “rhetoric” can have a bit of an “h” sound, especially in British English. I notice it some in American English too, but it can vary from person to person.
Or “gnats.” The “n” is a tiny bit different than if you said “Nats,” like the baseball team. You obviously don’t say the “g,” but the tongue comes up a little in the back of your mouth, almost like you were going to say a “g.”
That’s nothing to worry about, it’s just something I’ve noticed.