Reading vowels: Diphthong and flat sounds.
Vowels are often read like diphthongs, the same way they are spelt in the alphabet, like for instance these words: make for A, these for E, like for I, phone for O, music for U.
Otherwise, they are read like flat sounds, the same way they are read in man for A, get for E, did for I, not for O, but for U.
Below there is a list of words split by syllables. You will see how vowels at the end of syllables are read like diphthongs, whereas the rest are read like flat sounds.
Dipthong A: pla-ce, ca-se, ma-ke, ta-ke, sa-me, la-ter, pa-per, pla-te, ta-ble, Sta-tes
Flat A: and, back, can, had, that, man, hand, fact, ask, last, af-ter, mat-ter, as-sist, at-tach, ban-ner, man-ner, af-ford, ad-dress, ad-dittion
Dipthong E: re-ceive, be-fore, le-gal, the-se, re-port, se-rious, de-pend, re-pair, be-cause
Flat E: get, her, tell, then, well, when, yes, next, less, yet, get-ting, hel-lo, bel-ly, let-ter, mes-sage, bet-ter, ef-fect, sel-ler, yel-low
Dipthong I: li-ke, ti-me, li-fe, ni-ce, fi-ne, qui-te, kni-fe, I-reland, Chi-na, ti-ger
Flat I: did, him, his, think, this, will, with, thing, big, still, lit-tle, dif-ferent, sin-ce, kil-ler, win-ner, mir-ror, big-ger, bit-ter, vil-lage, din-ner
Dipthong O: o-ver, tho-se, ho-tel, ho-me, pho-ne, so-cial, no-tice, Ro-me, jo-ke, ho-pe
Flat O: from, got, not, long, front, wrong, lot, job, boss, shop, on-ly, of-fice, bot-tle, cof-fee, col-lege, hos-tel, poc-ket, hot-ter, Tom-my, com-pany
Dipthong U: u-se, stu-dent, mu-sic, U-nited, pu-re, hu-man, mu-te, cu-te, cu-re, U-niversity
Flat U: but, just, cup, much, must, stuff, lunch, cut, luck, duck, un-der, Dub-lin, bub-ble, but-ter, cur-ry, sum-mer, sub-ject, num-ber, Rus-sia
Although there are exceptions to this pattern, it is still very consistent. It's the best way to figure out how to read vowels a word you don't know, therefore I would recommend that you practice until you master it.
