How is learning Chinese different from learning other languages?

Yup definitely pinkpearl. Similar-sounding words are pronounced differently, but mean a complete different word though to a Chinese person, they would not even appear to be a similar word as they are used to the particular accent and different tones, and contours like pinkpearl said. It’s like how certain languages are more throaty or require more of a tongue curl. It’s why so many non-Chinese, or people who have not been communicating in chinese since birth find it hard to mimic the pronunciation of chinese words. Mandarin is generally easier for people to learn from scratch because the pronunciation and the sounds made when speaking Mandarin are slightly more similar than Cantonese which is completely different though still very, very different. As well, from what I have heard when you speak Mandarin, you are using the exact symbols you write. Where as in Cantonese, some of the words you might speak do not have that exact symbol with the same spoken word. I myself am Chinese, I speak cantonese, though I’ve been put through cantonese classes throughout my life, I still cannot read or write and can barely speak and understand. It is a language you most definitely need to listen to.

Chinese is not one Language but several languages that share a notation system as pinkpearl said.

And then, all the European-based languages are related. They are all to some extend influenced by the Celtic, old Norse and Latin languages. There are words that are related, the sentence structures are related.

Would you wanna learn Chiense in Shanghai?I believe that learn some language just need you to exercise frequently.LearningChinese is same with other languages. Also,you can find some professional Chinese school in Shanghai,such as Mandarin Garden,which I heard from my friend who had studied here before.After all,Chinese school could help you learn Chinese more efficiently.In addition, you can find tutors or private teachers in Shanghai,this measure could also help you learning Chinese quickly,and you can get more chance to communicate with Chinese. I hope my question could help you a lot.