Our vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and oftentimes the letter Y that make those vowels sounds. Sometimes a syllable might have two vowels in it, but they're working together to only make one vowel sound.

Readers discuss an article about a trend back to emphasizing phonics. To the Editor: Re “She Helped Transform Reading Lessons. Now She’s Backtracking” (front page, May 22): As an educator for 30-plus ...

The answer partly depends on whether we are talking about the sounds or letters of vowels and consonants. By mentioning “alphabetic languages”, the questioner is presumably asking why most versions of ...