i have a lot of friends who come from milano or sicilia.some of them can speak very good chinese.if there's a will there is a way.
to learn the tone,first you should be confidence.you are learning mandarin not other dialect,for they have more tones.In the view of chinese phonetics, tones can be introduced as sound,like do re mi.they are quite similar.then no phonetic symbol can be used to practise.you should listen,listen to the tape to the news to the movie,to find a correct feeling of tone whatever you can understand what they are saying or not.i know a German girl who just learnt chinese for 3months and can say it quite fluently.be confidence!
Ciao!
