Kriol has two vowel glides, the sounds in out and beer . Both glides have two ways of spelling them in Kriol words. The ou glide, as in out is spelled with either ow or ou . If the related word in English is spelled with ow , and the Kriol word is pronounced the same, then the Kriol word is spelled with ow . In all other cases ou is used.
Nasalized vowels are vowels in which the sound comes more through the nose than the mouth.
In Kriol these vowels are marked by writing hn after the vowel. The letters hn may be silent, but when followed by some words they can also be pronounced. It is sold in bookstores in Belize. In general it can be said that words in Kriol are spelled as they sound. However, someone literate in English may become confused with the similarities between Kriol words and English words, so it is important to study and learn these simple rules.