I am trying to figure out if there are any guidelines to know how vowels are pronounced in different words depending on the letters around them, or if it just comes down to memorizing each specific word.
For example, "о" is usually pronounced similarly to "oh", but I keep finding it pronounced like "ah" or "uh", in words like: спасибо (ending vowel), молодец (I am wondering why the second о doesn't say "oh"), and then there is спокойной, where both parts of "ой" sound vastly different from one another. How does one predict what sound these vowels will make, when starting to read Russian in Cyrillic?
I also don't understand why sometimes the letter "е" sounds like it drops the "y" sound at the start... like in the word: может быть. The ending of that word sounds more like "it", than "yet".
I do realize that I may just not be able to hear the distinction with some sounds, as it is a completely new language from the ones I am familiar with... but I am hoping there is some sort of guide/rule that could help me, with the various vowel pronunciation. I know the vowel sounds in English vary quite a bit, but I at least know when/why due to having the guidelines of the language memorized.
Any help or good references to sites that may explain the differences, would be much appreciated! =)