Each one of the Pin Yin "words", in this colour, below denotes one Chinese character...... 

(this colour denotes an English approximation - try a (heavier) New Zealand accent (short 'i') with the pin yin 'e' and you'll be almost bang on)
                

                                                                               (*"foong" in Taiwan the oo sound is the same as for the dope-smoking water pipe - the "boong"  I seen it in a movie ha'nt I? ) 

 

 

ao and ou sounds should be pronounced as if you had a big plum in your mouth. ao needs to be pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch"!

bai  buy	bei  bay	bie bier	bao bow			biao bee yow	bian  bien
pai  pie	pei  pay	pie  pier	pao pow	pou  pole		piao   pee yow	pian pien
mai my	mei may	mie  mere	mao mow	mou mole	miu me-old	miao  meeow	mian mien
	fei fay

                     

this oo sound is closest to "took"'s or "pool"'s oo sound but must be New Zealand accent - not Australian!

* this u sound is closest to the 'u' in 'pull'

this ü is represented with two dots over the u, (Often also written as v if you are typing pinyin) sounds like the "ew" sound in "new" or "few"

dai    die

dei day

dui   dway

die   deer

dao  dao

dou  dole

diu   dee-oh

diao   dyao

dian  dien

dun   dwin

duo dwar

tai   tie

tui   tway

tie tear

tao  tao

tou   toll

tiao   tyao

tian  tien

tun  twin

tuo twar

nai  nigh

nei   nay

nie  near

nao  now

niu   nee-oh

niao  nyao

nian nien

niang   nyang

nuo  nwar

nue new-where

lai   lai

lei  lay

lie  leer

lao  low

lou  loll

liu   lee-oh

liao lyao

lian  lien

liang   lyang

lun    lwin

luo lwar

lue lew-where

again a lighter 'r' sound - New Zealand  or UK accent here again please - not an American 'r'

ao and ou sounds should be pronounced as if you had a big plum in your mouth. ao needs to be pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch"!

 

ge  ger	gen gin	geng  ging	ga  gah	gan  gahn	gang gahng	gong  goong	gu   *	gua gwa	guan  gwan	guang gwang
ke   ker	ken kin	keng  king	ka kah	kan  kahn	kang kahng	kong  koong	ku   *	kua kwa	kuan  kwan	kuang kwang
he   her	hen  hin	heng    heng	ha   hah	han   hahn	hang  hahng	hong    hoong	hu *	hua hwa	huan hwan	huang hwang

          this oo sound is closest to "took"'s or "pool"'s oo sound but must be New Zealand accent - not Australian!
                                                                                                               * this u sound is closest to the 'u' in 'pull'

gai guy	gei  gay	gui  gway	gao  gow	gou goal	guai gwhy	gua gwa	guo gwar
kai   kai		kui  kway	kao cow	kou coal	kuai  kwhy	kua kwa	kuo kwar
hai  hi	hei  hay	hui hway	hao  how	hou  hole	huai   hwhy	hua hwa	huo hwar

ao and ou sounds should be pronounced as if you had a big plum in your mouth. ao needs to be pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch"!

                                   xi has a kind of 'sh' sound but lighter on the 'h' - not so sloshy.... 2/3 's'  & 1/3 'sh'
 

(New Zealand accent (short 'i') with the pin yin 'e' and you'll be almost bang on)
                                                           * this u sound is closest to the 'u' in 'pull'
                                                     

this oo sound is closest to "took"'s or "pool"'s oo sound but must be New Zealand accent - not Australian!

                                     (New Zealand accent (short 'i') with the pin yin 'e' and you'll be almost bang on)

                                     * this u sound is closest to the 'u' in 'pull' or 'rule'
                                            
this oo sound is closest to "took"'s or "pool"'s oo sound but must be New Zealand accent - not Australian!                             

note the vowel sounds of 'chu' and 'chong' are not quite the same 

yi  e	yia  ya	yan  Ian	yang  young	yong  Jung		yin been	ying  making	you  yo cuz!	ye   yeah	yiu  yule	yue yew-ear
wo  war	wa   wah	wan  one	wang wahng	wei way	wen win	weng  wing	wu wool
e    er	er per	en  in