can someone tell me how I can figure out what is a long i & short i, & how I can tell the diference? thank you

3 answers

A long i has a - over it. The short i has an upside down dinner plate over it, like a parenthesis except curved up instead of sideways.
The long vowels are pronounced in words the same way they are pronounced when you say the alphabet. "I" sounds like "eye."

Iowa = long "i" and long "o" but short "a"

little = short "i" (doesn't sound the way it does when you say it in the alphabet)
http://rbeaudoin333.homestead.com/files/short_vowels/vowelsounds_1.html