The present essay focuses on the English vowel system, outlining its main features and dealing with the most relevant examples of how vowel sounds may be spelt. Any language is a system and, as such, it may be studied from different points of view without never forgetting that the different aspects are parts of a unicum. The English vowel system represents a part of a wider system, which anyone who desires to be able to pronounce English intelligibly must, at some level, be aware of. The paper, which includes a description of the human phonatory system, first introduces vowels at general level and then focuses on English vowels considered in their traditional distinction between short and long ones. Although confined to a limited part of English phonetics and phonology, the essay may nonetheless give some clues for reflections.