Many Mandarin Chinese teachers claim that the step 1 for Learning Chinese is: Sounds (Pinyins).
How different is it to English sounds and are there any good tips to learn?
Many Mandarin Chinese teachers claim that the step 1 for Learning Chinese is: Sounds (Pinyins).
How different is it to English sounds and are there any good tips to learn?
Don't connect Chinese sounds to English sounds (or any other language, for that matter). It will only hinder your pronunciation.
For example:
A lot of learners want to connect 'xi' with the English 'she' - but first the Chinese 'x' is represented by the IPA letter ɕ where as the English 'sh' is represented by IPA ʃ - although it might be considered a variation (by some) but it certainly is not the same!
These kinds of things often leave foreigners sounding 洋腔洋调 because they're just using sounds from other languages.
I found listening to music really helped when learning - artists from Taiwan and the south tend to sing more clearly in my opinion. perhaps you could start there.
Also, it is worth noting that in English we have around 8000 unique syllables, whereas in (mandarin) Chinese there are only around 400 (multiply this by 4 for the tones).