Here is an example of tablature marked up with some arrows and text to help you learn what some of the tablature symbols mean. I have covered most of them, if you run across things that you are not sure what they are feel free to
e-mail me and I will help to identify the symbol you are having trouble with. If you currently don't own a tablature program, I highly recommend purchasing Guitar Pro 6. It is an excellent program and there are a lot of tabs on the internet you can get of your favorite songs that are in the guitar pro 6 format. Some tablature on the internet is even more basic to read than what I have below. If this page does not help you enough look around the internet and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for.

Example of Tablature and mark-ups to help you get an understanding of how to read Tabs.