Hi Hom, try to find it out by yourself !!! And just be warned to get advice by chinese like the first three.For sure pinyin is a first step to start learning chinese,but it depends how good your english is and how many books you can find in your mothertongue. I just tell you my method: 1.Try to find books,which have PINYIN(transscription of chinese characters) AND HANZI(chinese characters) 2.As soon as possible find a person which speaks standard chinese and has good knowledge about pinyin and tones(doesnt have to be a native) 3.Try to find ways how to pronounce words(online,cds and so on and in real life) 4.Repeat reading your texts from a book ... after mastering pinyin,try to read the characters 5.If you are really interested in chinese AND the country: GO TO CHINA to find out if you like or dislike it ... at least the best way to learn chinese Hope i could help you ... feel free to contact me if you have more questions ... could introduce you some materials Zai jian ... nuli xuexi ba :-)

well..I think you can start with Pinyin,that's an easier way for you to know how to read Chinese. And then try to learn how to write Chinese characters..(I guess that's the most difficult part for foreigners),and maybe you can get some textbooks in some large bookstores,you know,listening part is fatal important,too.......let me recommend a website to you...www.cnr.cn/china/...I think this might help you...and you may try to imitate the voice,the dialogue...Reading or listening to some news,from this,you can definitely gain a lot...

Chinese is not hard to learn once you are absorbed in it.Start with "pingyin" !To some extent,it is similiar to English words

it's quite easy to learn chinese if you are in china .you should make the best of the language environment.talk to chinese.whatever it is.you will gain a lot from it

I think you'd better start with Chinese Hanzi，汉字！ Writting is easier than speaking. If you want to learn the Pinyin (The pronouciation of Chinese), you need a Chinese as partner at first.