Hello I have a question about double-length hiragana vowels - in case of double-length "I" and "E", how do we know the correct reading, eg that せんせい is sense(e), not sensei? or when I see E-I, I should ALWAYS read E(E)? Tanks

My suggestion is to learn to read Hiragana properly and then just forget about using romaji ever again. Only use Romaji to help you learn Hiragana at first... Using romaji for too long may end up slowing you down.

Elena-san, Reading japanese can be tricky - as you have already noted. Just as a tip - if you were to pronounce say せんせい as sensee OR sensei - both will be understood by Japanese people. The problem arises when you have words like 'Obasan' and 'Obaasan' or 'Ojisan' and 'Ojiisan' where they actually mean separate things (aunt, grandmother, uncle, grandfather - respectively). -Hope that helps!

Thanks Sayaka :) To Derek - I wasn't talking about romaji, but kana reading here ;)

Do itashimashite Elena-san! - sayaka ;)