3 emails were about how one pronounces (finnish) vowels like ä and ö. Here is little info about finnish vowels and how one would write pronounces 'in finnish':

A - like 'a' in word 'car' ('kaar')
E - [E]xtra or 'e' in word 'set'. ('set')
I - 'i' in word 'sit' or 'y' in word 'friendly' ('frendli')
O - Like 'a' in word 'all' ('ool')
U - Like 'ou' in word 'you' ('juu')
Y - Try to make finnish vowel 'i' and then round your lips. Or just like german ü.
Ä - like 'a' in word 'hat' ('hät')
Ö - 'a friend', like you pronounce the 'a'. ('ö frend')

And by the way... in finnish there is great difference in the length of vowel.

You can check this site (not mine and don't know the author or any of her friends in case you wondered): http://www.geocities.com/paivirentz/pronunc.html