Interested in learning how to pronounce words in Mandarin? Pinyin is your ally. Practice often!

Characters in Pinyin are made of two parts:

1. Initial + Finals
2. Tone

Initials and Finals

https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-pinyin-chart.php
There are a few special cases:

• zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci, si are pronounced without a final.
  • Ex: chi is pronounced similar to chucky, and not cheese.
• The initials j, q, and x pronounce it as ü instead of u.
  • Ex: qu is pronounced qü.
  • Ex: xuan is pronounced xüan.

Tone