'Settings', 'Mail, Contacts, Calendar', 'Accounts', 'Add New Account'
From then on it will depend on the Service Provider - so you'll have to establish the details (separately) for incoming and outgoing mail.
Incoming mail is usually handled by the legacy email protocol POP (Post Office Protocol) or the newer IMAP protocol. For sure, on the iPad, IMAP is better because any folders you have on your email server will be replicated on the iPad. Using POP it's not possible to create new email folders on the iPad. Your service provider should tell you the details of the various settings you need to enter when you sign up. It's not possible for me to know these, of course.
For outgoing mail the protocol is SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). If you plan on sending emails from a network that is not your 'home' network, you want to check to see if your service provider supports SSL - a secure way of sending mail. If they don't, you're likely to come across the infamous Port 25 relay problem and its implication is that, without SSL, you won't be able to send emails while you're away from your home network (it might possibly work on 3G if the cellular service provider is the same as your email provider). So check to see if SSL is supported. 'Plain vanilla' SMTP doesn't require a login or password, so most service providers don't allow you to send mail from their SMTP server when you're away from home because they can't verify your identity and you could send an email claiming to the anyone at all and they have no way of checking that.
With SSL you have to login first of all - using your email address and your email password - the same ones you used for POP or IMAP. Then they can verify your address and you'll be good to go.
Tim