Chinese for English speakers

What is easy and what is hard about Chinese depends on your first language. Here is your map.

English has no tones, so tones will be your single biggest hurdle. The good news: word order is the same as English, and Chinese has no verb conjugation, no tenses, no plurals and no gender.

What is easier for you

Word order is identical: subject–verb–object. 我爱你 = 'I love you'.
No conjugation at all: 吃 covers eat / eats / ate / eating.
You already make the aspiration difference allophonically — 'p' in 'pin' vs 'p' in 'spin'. Chinese turns that into a meaning difference.
Loanwords help: 咖啡 kāfēi (coffee), 沙发 shāfā (sofa), 坦克 tǎnkè (tank).

What is harder for you

Tones. English uses pitch for emotion; Chinese uses it for meaning: 妈 mā / 麻 má / 马 mǎ / 骂 mà differ only by tone.
Chinese b/d/g are unaspirated — no puff of air. Your ear hears 爸 bà as 'pa'. Train the pair 爸 bà vs 怕 pà.
-n vs -ng: 心 xīn vs 星 xīng. English has both sounds but you never listen for the contrast.
The sound ü (鱼 yú) does not exist in English: round your lips as for 'oo' but say 'ee'.

How to practise

Practise tones in pairs, never alone: 你好 nǐ hǎo, 谢谢 xièxie, 对不起 duìbuqǐ.
Spend 10 minutes a day shadowing audio before you study anything else — ear first.
Learn characters through radicals: 妈 mā = 女 (woman) + 马 mǎ (horse).