How many vowels are there in English?

5 written and 19 vowel sounds

It is widely known the fact that vowel sounds represent a considerable challenge to non-native speakers.  Keep in mind that spoken English has an unusually high number of vowel sounds.  Everyone knows that there are 5 written vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and, in the end, the result is represented by 19 vowel sounds.  Some of the basic vowel sounds are represented by long A – day, long E – we, seed, long I – lie, fine, sigh, long O – bowl, comb, low, sew , long U (oo or yoo) – cool, moon, suit / cute, fuel, unit.