Select a Chinese music CD or mp3 songs to listen to. Choose something with a tune you enjoy and music where the lyrics are pronounced clearly. You can get an entire album of Chinese music or pick popular American music that has been translated into Chinese.
Read the lyrics of the song while you listen to the music. Read the lyrics in pinyin, rather than the Chinese characters. Pinyin is the English pronunciation of Chinese words. After you hear the song, review the English translation of the lyrics so you can learn the definitions of the words and phrases. Pay special attention to the accent marks above vowels, as these indicate the correct tonal pronunciation of each word.
Listen to the music each day. Speak or sing along with the music as you read the lyrics out loud. Try to memorize the lyrics to the music as you sing along with the songs. Review the song lyrics even when you aren't listening to the music.
Make flash cards of words you have difficulty remembering and review the flash cards each day before you listen to the music. In addition to memorizing the pronunciation of each word, it is important to understand the definition of the words and phrases in the songs. Once you memorize a large amount of vocabulary, it will be easier for you to use those words in creating your own sentences.