how to pronounce latin words?

Latin pronunciation is really quite easy. It's phonetic and there are few exceptions to the rules. (A word of caution: for people who are truly fluent in the language, there can be diferences in pronunciation, depending on the speaker's ethnic background. Thus, while most people pronounce the 'c' as a 'k' sound, some Italians prefer to say 'ch' and some Germans 'ts'. So Cicero is Kikero only for those who follow the standard rules recognized by Anglo-Saxon scholars.)

Consonants:
A is said as 'ah' in 'father'.
E is said as 'ay', as in 'they' but in very common short words it's a short 'e' ('e' as in 'best' or 'rest.'
I is said as 'ee' , never s 'eye'. But, again, it can be short in some words and become 'i' as in 'did' or 'Sid.'
O is 'oh' as in 'go.'
U is said 'oo' as in 'crude' but, again, in short words it can be short as the 'u' sound in 'cookbook.' It is never 'ah' as it is in English sometimes.

Dipthongs
AE is 'eye'
AU is 'ow'
OE is 'oy'

The pizza delivery is here, so i'll get back to you on the consonants. Just remember that they are usually 'hard.' (A 'g' is said as in 'gun' not as in 'gymmnast.')

OK, the consonants.
First, dispose of J, W and Y. They're not in the Latin alphabet. (In older forms of Latin, there is no ?'u' either. ?'V' stands for both the ?'u' and the hard ?'v' sounds.)

B,D, F, H, K (rare in Latin, found mostly in words transliterated from Greek), L. M. N. P and Z all sound the same as they do in English.
C is always a ?'k' sound as in ?'car.' (But, again, see my caveat in the previous post.
CH is always ?'k' as in ?'chorus.'
G is always hard.
R is never silent. It more closely resembles a Scottish burr.
S is always a hissing sound
T is always hard, as in ?'tar' or ?'taxes.' Even when it is an interior letter, it is pronounced that way. For example the word ratio is not pronounced as in English, but is said as ?'RAH-tee-oh.'
V is pronounced as a ?'w' is pronounced in English.
X is always ?'ks'.

Stress
In two-syllable words, the stress is on the first syllable. In words of more than two syllables, the stress is on the second syllable.

Easy, huh? Enjoy. And if anyone asks, just say, "Paululum linguae Latinae dico. (What you actually would say is "Pow-LOO-luhm LEEN-gwye Lah-TEEN-eye DEE-koh" and what that really means, word for word, is "A little language Latin I speak." Word order is somewhat different in Latin than in English.)

Re: how to pronounce latin words?
To my surprise, most probably the most close pronunciation of Latin is - Czech language today. I am myself Czech so I can read some phrases to you on phone:)