Im learning Mandarin Chinese in my spare time. I have a neighbor that speak Mandarin but he is much older than me and I think it would be hard to practice with him until I can speak more fluently (his english is not very good at all).

Are there any websites, books, particular phrases that anyone would suggest to me?

Also does anyone know any tricks for learning pronunciation on your own?

You can try the "vocabulearn" by Penton Overseas. It is a series of vocabulary words spoken in both English and the language you are trying to learn. They give you time to pronounce them for yourself before going on to the next word or phrase. They also come with a booklet to follow along. You can purchase them in several places on the net. This particular program can be just as useful to your neighbor, without change, because of the manner in which it is presented.
By the way, the best way to learn a foreign language is to study a little everyday, as opposed to a lot, but only once in a while.

oh u can learn about pin yin to speak mandarin. Pin yin is when chinese words are written in english letter that would help u to speak mandarin while looking at English phrase.

This helps:

www.chinesepod.com

1. Making friends with local Chinese people is always one of the best ways, most of them are eager to improve English by chatting with foreigners. so..win-win. You may find language partner at some forums.

2. Attend some courses at a University or private training center.

3. Or you may study online at you leisure-time with some internet tools. A website introduced in the facebook http://www.chinesetime.cn It's good . they can teach you Mandarine with a series of systematic courses through Skype.

4. Use the social network like Facebook.com, there are a lot of groups for Chinese learning. Such as Learn Chinese: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2372234064 You can get some Tutorial Video there. and Learn to Speak Chinese in 5 minutes group!!! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2213647922

I have been learning for almost a year now and this is what I do...

Practice with Chinese friends

Chinese pod

chinese movies

Pimsleur Mandarin

Zhongwen.com

Xuezhongwen.net

do the practice quizzes to learn the characters.

book i recommend

speed-up chinese

practical chinese for foreigners

see chinasprout.com for excellent books and flashcards

I am at the point now where native Chinese can understand me just fine.

More and more people begin to learn Chinese, because here is clear career potential for the future. Childhood, I think, is the best period to start to learn Chinese or other language, so begin learning Chinese as early as you can. I suggest you take courses in language training school, because it can help you learn easier and faster. Check this site http://www.learnchinese.bj.cn It may help you. Good luck!