Pinyin is the writing system that allows you to read Mandarin immediately. It is written with the Roman alphabet and is very consistent. You just need to learn how to read the different sounds. Some letters are used as they are in English: bei, hua, lao etc. Others are not. You simply need to learn the new values: xi is pronounced like she and qi is pronounced like chi.
Pinyin makes it possible to pronounce Chinese fairly accurately very fast. You want to be learning how to read and write characters at the same time, but Pinyin will really help you penetrate into the language.
Another fantastic thing it does is it tells you exactly how to pronounce the tones on every word. I will get back to tones in another post, but realize that you must pronounce the tones of Mandarin or you will not be understood when you speak. At all.! The Chinese characters do not show you how to pronounce the tones: Pinyin does.
You can learn how to read Pinyin in 30 minutes. You won’t be perfectly accurate, but you will be able to read, learn vocabulary and use correct tones. It is really an indispensable tool. Yes qi = chi might be a little strange, but you can quickly get used to it.