...about vowels е, ё, ю, я

Welcome to the third part of our five part series on reading in Russian. Who would’ve thought it would take such a short time to tell about it? Does it also mean that reading in Russian is actually easy? You are welcome to make your own judgments. е [э]: лето [л’эта], весна [в’эсна], кофе [коф’э] ё [о]: мёд [м’от], пчёлка [п’чолка] ю [у]: люк [л’ук], сюртук [с’уртук] я [а]: няня [н’ан’а], ляля [л’ал’а], мямля [м’амл’а] Compare: мода - мёд, лук - люк, нана - няня Add [й] in three cases: е [йэ], ё [йо], ю [йу], я [йа] 1) The beginning of a word е [йэ]: ель [йэл’] ё [йо]: ёж [йош] ю [йу]: юбка [йупка] я [йа]: яблоко [йаблака] 2) After the vowels е [йэ]: доел [дайэл’] ё [йо]: поёт [пайот] ю [йу]: кушают [кушайут] я [йа]: маяк [майак] 3) After ь (мягкий знак - soft sign) and ъ (твёрдый знак - hard sign) е [йэ]: колье [кол’йэ] ё [йо]: льёт [л’йот] ю [йу]: льют [л’йут] я [йа]: семья [сим’йа]