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Stops
Stops are sounds that are caused by a complete stop in the airflow followed by a full opening of the articulators used so that there is minimal friction between the air and articulators. For example, the sounds /p/ and /b/ are created by using the lips to stop the air.
Implosives
Implosives are the same as stops with one chief difference: the direction of airflow. Here a speaker sucks air through the articulators. These sounds are not used in English but they are still recognizable and have some meaning. Think of the sound made by a very loud kiss. This is an implosive sound.
Taps
Taps are similar to stops in that they stop the airflow, but the stop here is much shorter. The sound is softer and quicker. Think of the word "later." In American English, the letter "t" here is a tap that actually sounds softer and closer to a "d" than in a word like "table."
Trills
Trills are the rapid repetition of taps. Most native speakers of English learning Spanish have trouble with trills because they are not commonly used in English, so the tongue does not have the physiological practice of using the tongue as an articulator in this way. In Spanish the letter "rr" is a trilled "r." Often, consonant combinations such as "tr" or "dr" in Spanish may have the same acoustic characteristics as a trill because it is the result of two taps in a row, as "t" and "d" are often taps in Spanish.
Fricatives
Fricatives are caused by the articulators being so close together that there is a significant amount of friction between them and the air flow. Examples include the letters "s" and "z" which are both caused by the tongue's position relative to the alveolar ridge. The only difference between the sounds /s/ and /z/, is that the first is voiceless and the second is voiced.
Affricates
Affricates are the combination of two sounds: stops and fricatives. Affricates and stops are both caused by a stop in the airflow, however the opening immediately after the closure in an affricate is so narrow that there is still significant friction in the airflow. An example in American English is the initial sound in "chocolate". If that intial sound was a stop instead of an affricate, it would sound like you're saying "tocolate."
Nasals
A nasal sound is one where the airflow is directed out the nose rather than the mouth. This doesn't mean that the articulators in the mouth aren't used. The articulators in the mouth block the airflow from leaving through the oral cavity. For example, the sound /m/ is caused by blocking the airflow with the lips, and an /n/ is caused by block the airflow with the tongue and the alveolar ridge.
Aproximants
Approximants can be a little harder to tell apart because the articulators here are much farther apart. These would include the "r" and "y" sounds in American English. Here the main articulator used is the tongue and it takes on different positions and sometimes movements in the oral cavity to manipulate the airflow. Note that the letter "y" in "yellow" forces the tongue to move forward and drop in order to create the sound rather than attain a relative distance to another articulator.
Vowels
Vowels are the only sounds where the airflow is not re-directed or manipulated by the close position of the articulators. Vowels involve the tongue and lips in a still position. The tongue can be in any number of positions from high to low and front to back. The lips can be rounded as in the /u/ sound in "moon" or spread wide as in the /i/ sound in "leave."