For learning Chinese language it is necessary to know alphabets in Chinese. You have to know alphabets in Chinese to learn writing in Chinese language. Chinese alphabets are the building blocks of Chinese language. There are 26 characters in Chinese alphabets. Chinese alphabets are made up of Chinese vowels and Chinese consonants. The Chinese alphabets contain 24 vowels and 23 consonants. Chinese vs German gives a comparison between Chinese and German alphabets.
Chinese script is also known as Chinese writing system or Chinese orthography. The set of visible signs used to represent units of Chinese language in a systematic way is called Chinese Script. The Chinese language uses Chinese Characters and derivatives i.e. Chinese alphabets are derived from Chinese Characters and derivatives script. The script decides the writing direction of the any language, hence the writing direction of Chinese is Left-To-Right Horizontal and Top-To-Bottom. Learn Chinese Greetings where you will find some interesting phrases.
Is Chinese hard to learn? The answer to this question is that it depends on one's native language. One should start learning Chinese language with Chinese alphabets and Chinese phonology.
Time taken to learn any language that is mentioned here is the approximate time required to learn specific language for the person who is proficient in English. You can also go through all Indian Languages and find if Chinese is one of the language of India.