Achulu (అచ్చులు) are the vowels of Telugu — the sounds every word is built from. Let’s meet the first four. They come in short/long pairs, like a quick sound and a stretched-out sound.

• అ = a — like the “u” in up.
• ఆ = aa — a long “a” like in father. (అ stretched out!)
• ఇ = i — like the “i” in sit.
• ఈ = ee — a long “ee” like in see. (ఇ stretched out!)