Arabic has a feature like this as well. I really like it now that I got used to it. When you hear Cxu just be aware that it is a question coming up.

Vi estas forta.
Cxu vi estas forta.

We don't have it in English. We judge based on the sound of the person's voice. Sometimes, we aren't sure if it is a question or not.
You are strong.
You are strong?

In English we can also reverse the order of the sentence:
You are strong.
Are you strong?

When you're translating from Esperanto to English on the fly -- let's say because you're taking a test or interpreting -- you have to hear the subject and the verb before you even start your English translation, because of word order. When you hear ĉu, you can mark it in your head as a question, but the English phrasing isn't clear yet.

A: Ĉu...

B: [wait for it]

A: ...vi havus...

B: Would you have...

I can't imagine how difficult it must be to be an interpreter from German to English, with the verbs at the end of sentences. Or Japanese. You must always be playing catch-up.

AmericanBull:I find that when I read a sentence that starts with "ĉu", I have to read the rest of the sentence, and then go back and interpret what "ĉu" is. Is there a rule of thumb way of quickly translating "ĉu" so I don't have to rely on reading the whole sentence and go back?

In modern English there are a few verbs that can be placed before the subject to form a question.

May I eat that pie?
Is that a pie?
Have you got the pie?
Should I even eat pie in the first place?

However, most verbs in standard English don't like to move, so the helper verb 'to do' fills that spot.

For example:

Do you bake pie every day?
and not:
Bake you pie every day?

Does that pie contain transfats?
and not:
Contains that pie transfats?

In Esperanto, word order is less important than in English, so verb movement to the front of the sentence means nothing.

"Tiu estas torto." is the same as, "Estas tiu torto." [That b]is[/b] a pie./Is that pie.]
"Vi volas torton." is the same as, "Volas vi torton." [You b]want[/b] pie./Want you pie.]

"Ĉu" often ends up filling in the positon taken up in English by "Do" or another allowable yes-no question verb. (as an English speaker, you know what is allowed, so no need to study)

In a quick translation to English from Esperanto concerning "ĉu" (or vice versa) It can likely be replaced by initial "Do" or with another auxiliary verb such as "to be".

Just be mindful of tense.

"Ĉu vi mangis mian torton?" = "Did you eat my pie?"
"Ĉu vi mangas mian torton?" ={"Do you eat my pie?"} "Are you eating my pie?"

In general, most if not all languages have some means to distinguish between statements and yes/no questions. Generally, statements are less marked than questions.

One means is intonation. This raises the problem how to mark this intonational change in written. Question marks come in handy here:
ES: Se ve bien. (statement)
¿Se ve bien? (question)

Another means is word order:
DE: Das sieht gut aus. (statement)
Sieht das gut aus? (question)

Yet another means is the English do-support (which is derived from word order):
EN: This looks good. (statement)
Does this look good? (question)

Some languages use special words (markers) to indicate a question?
QEQ: Nahulak chaawu. (statement)
Ma nahulak chaawu? (question)

Esperanto is of the latter group. Ĉu does not mean anything (i.e. it has no semantic content), it just marks a question.