I’m of Greek decent. I recently moved to this country. I started studying English a few years ago and still struggle with identifying syllables. I tend to memorize words without understanding how to pronounce them - I don’t feel comfortable doing this. I don’t want to jeopardize my ability to learn this wonderful language. Whenever I come across a new word, I am immediately lost. I’m trying to learn the rules for syllables, but it is difficult for me to understand.
For example, Bi-en-ni-al – why is the i in ni short? Doesn’t this follow the open syllable rule?
An-thro-po-mor-phic – the o in po is long, why does this follow the open syllable rule and not Biennial?
These are the type of problems I need help with. Can anyone be so kind as to help me learn these rules? THANKS!