Now more than 40 million {#blank#}1{#/blank#} around the world are learning Chinese, according to a report. The relationship {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the United States and China is becoming more and more important in the world. This has really {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the growth of Chinese language learning in U.S.

    I am Chris from the United States. I am one of the many people {#blank#}4{#/blank#} are learning Chinese. I am studying at a Confucius Institute(孔子学院)in New York. There are 10 students in our class. Some are over thirty years old. Some are middle school students. Our teacher comes from Beijing. He is fun and often tells us interesting things in China.

    I think Chinese is {#blank#}5{#/blank#} to learn. The biggest challenge for American learners is the writing. Chinese is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} different from any other language in the world. It will take me a lot of time to learn enough Chinese characters(汉字). But I think there are many benefits (益处) of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} time in learning Chinese. One important benefit is that it makes me see things from a {#blank#}8{#/blank#} point of view, because Chinese is {#blank#}9{#/blank#} a different language from English. I think for American the students most important benefit is that {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a challenging language can open up their eyes.

    Last Sunday my brother and I went fishing. We got up very early that day. When we {#blank#}1{#/blank#}home, the moon could still be seen in the sky. The morning air was cool and I felt wind on my face. This made us very comfortable. We laughed and talked {#blank#}2{#/blank#}the way while we were riding our {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.By about six we were already sitting by the river. Fishing is not easy. If you want to be{#blank#}4{#/blank#} you must be very careful. That day we caught a lot of fish and enjoyed ourselves very much. It was late when we got home. We felt a little tired {#blank#}5{#/blank#}happy.

    Fishing is a very good sport. I like it very much.