Rào kǒu lìng -- Tongue twister

Tongue twister is a good way to improve the pronunciation in Chinese. Here is a very basic one for beginners. Please note the difference between "s" and "sh" in Chinese. "S" is as in sun, sorry in English. "Sh" is no equivalent in English. Rather like show, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to marsh in American English. And the rising tone and falling tone here are also very important.

Characters:

四是四,十是十。十四是十四,四十是四十。

Pinyin:

Sì shì sì, shí shì shí. Shí sì shì shí sì, sì shí shì sì shí. 

Translation:

Four is four, ten is ten. Fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty.