One of the reasons that learning Chinese is more difficult for an English speaker than learning most European languages is the lack of cognates, words with a common origin. It’s easier to remember that “scuola” or “Schule” means “school” than “学校 xuéxiào”. On the flip side, though, if you want to talk about people behind their backs, you’ll probably have more luck with “他真是个二百五 tā zhēn shì gè èrbǎiwǔ” than with “è stupido”.