Pinyin

It's essential that the new student of the Mandarin language learn Pinyin, the most commonly-used pronunciation guide for the learner who does not yet know the Chinese characters. Pinyin means, literally, "spelling sound," which means "phonetics."

Pinyin is English-like, but can't be read exactly the same way. For example, the letter q in Pinyin is pronounced similarly to -- but not exactly like -- the ch in cheek, and the letter x is pronounced something like the sh in she.

Each syllable begins with an initial pinyin consonant. This Wikibooks page describes the pronunciation of these initial sounds: Pronunciation of Initials.

The initial consonant is followed by what is called a final portion: Pronunciation of Finals.

There are five pronunciation tones, each represented by one of the four tone marks written above a syllable: ˉ, ˊ, ˇ, and ˋ. A syllable with no tone mark uses the default tone.

Every syllable is pronounced using one of these tones. An incorrect tone can change the meaning of the syllable. A classic example demonstrates how important it is to pronounce each syllable correctly:

mā (妈). First tone, a high, steady tone. This syllable means mother.

má (麻). Second tone, a middle, rising tone. This syllable means hemp.

mǎ (马). Third tone, a low, dipping tone. This syllable means horse.

mà (骂). Fourth tone, a high, falling tone. This syllable means scold.

ma (吗). Unstressed, low level tone. This syllable is added to the end of a question to request a yes or nno reply.

As you can see, you don't want to get this tones wrong. There's a big difference between How is your mother? and How's your horse!

As some tones sound similar to others to the untrained ear, it's important to listen to each word repeatedly and attempt to imitate the tone as often as possible during your practice. The tone-based pronunciation system means that listening is an more important component of the study of Chinese than it is in other languages. It's critical that the student of Mandarin learn the pronunciation tones. Pronunciation of Tones.

Pinyin (Wikipedia)
Pinyin Pronunciation  (Wikibooks)
How to Study Chinese (Wikibooks)