Hi,
Can someone direct me to a website on how to pronounce
the Pinyin of Chinese. Words like Xinghui. How do you pronounce
it with an X in front of the word or “hui” etc. Basically I need
to know how to pronounce the pinyin because I have just downloaded the flash cards, and although the Pinyin is an excellent help in pronunciation, I have a problem in that I don’t know the basics of how to pronounce Pinyin. Thanks, Ri
Be sure to get a real live babe to help you with the pronunciation in person. 
Hi Rick,
Have you thought about getting the Rosetta Stone language learning software?
The thing about learning pronunciation is that the most efficient way is probably through meaning: through comprehending and responding to input in the target language. Ironlady, the co-moderator of the forum, has every reason to know what she is talking about, and she recommends learning a fair few words first before even looking at any Pinyin.
Most people probably wouldn’t want to wait so long, but at least the Rosetta Stone gives you the sound of the words in a meaningful context at the same time that you see the Pinyin. After you had done the first few lessons at least, you could then learn Pinyin more systemically.
Most Chinese classes teach the phonemic transcription system (Zhuyin Fuhao or Pinyin) first, devoid of meaning. This is brain-unfriendly and does not work very well for most people. I was one of the lucky people for whom it worked reasonably well, though I did go through the process twice (once with Pinyin and a teacher from Beijing, once with Zhuyin and a teacher from Taiwan). In addition, I was getting some meaningful input in Chinese at the same time, which helped.
A lot of people on seeing pinyin for the first time “lock on” to how they think it ought to sound, rather than the real sounds of Mandarin. I think this is the main reason that Ironlady recommends waiting a while and developing some comprehension and sound recognition first.
[quote=“Taffy”]This site might help.[/quote]Nice link! Some useful info there. It’s particularly good in correcting some misperceptions.