What do you know, I looked up and you are right - they are really considered "hard". Though, as a native speaker I thought them to be "soft" all my life! I figu

What do you know, I looked up and you are right - they are really considered "hard". Though, as a native speaker I thought them to be "soft" all my life! I figure the rule making them "hard" is arbitrary, not the и/ы.