Tones and Pinyin

There are four inflection tones and the neutral tone.  Get a good textbook for an explanation.

Don't memorize tones.  Say them.  Listen to them.  Get to the point where shi4 means 'to be' and shi2 means 'time'.  If you get in the habit of memorizing the tones you will never get a word out.  You will be thinking of a list of things each time you see a character - what is the translation?, what is the pinyin?, what is the tone?  Just say it, until the character is the sound.  When you see the word 'bed' you don't break it down into consonants and vowels - you just say bed.  When you say the word 'something' you automatically stress the first syllable and swallow the last.  You don't sit around and think about those dictionary stress marks they taught you in school.

The tones are given in numbered form. 
1 = first tone,
2 = second tone, etc. 
If the tone is neutral, no number follows the syllable.  The character ü is symbolized as ~ followed by the tone number.

Certain tones change depending on what tone follows. When a third tone follows a third tone, the first syllable is said almost as a second tone. Some books change the tone of the first syllable to indicate the change of pronunciation - I have not. Since learners tend to think of leng3 in association with a meaning, changing it to leng2 increases confusion. It is better to just get in the habit of changing the pitch of the voice when you are going to be saying double third tones. Since you have speakers right at your fingertips, it should be easier than when working with a text. I have changed the tone marks on yi1 (one) to conform to the convention of saying it as a second tone before a fourth tone and as a fourth tone before the other tones. When you look yi1 up in a dictionary, you will find that it is always given as the first tone to aid in alphabetizing the pinyin. Finally, bu4 (not) also changes its pronunciation depending on its place in the sentence or the syllable which follows it. I have tried to indicate where it changes to neutral, but have left almost all other entries as bu4.

Don't be intimidated by the tones.  English is a highly inflected language, where the complete meaning of a sentence is changed by a slight change in tone and emphasis.  Chinese just has a different song underlying the structure.

Numbered pinyin has been used throughout since people who do not have GUI interfaces can read them.  Plans are in process to provide regular pinyin symbols as well, but that is in the future.

Pinyin is a transitional tool.  When you are working with the tones the idea is to hear the differences among them.  The pinyin is merely a check on your listening.