An example I often bring up to English speakers who are learning Chinese is that they have to learn that the Chinese verbal system is based on aspect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_aspect

rather than on tense. Many native English speakers misspeak Chinese as a second language because they struggle to impose their sense of tense on a tenseless language, and meanwhile get Chinese aspect marking all wrong. That can lead to misunderstandings in either direction, as my extensive acquaintance with persons who speak both languages often shows.