I moved from Russia to China with my family 16 years ago. When I arrived, I couldn’t speak ______ and it was very difficult for me to accept this new way of life. But soon this ______ was gone.

In 2008, not so long after the Olympic Games in Beijing, I began to attend a Chinese primary school. This is how I started my journey of ______ Chinese. Of course, it was ______ at first. I often found myself speaking Russian to my Chinese classmates when I tried to ______ myself. But with some body language, we understood each other and became good friends.

Now after studying Chinese for more than 13 years, ______ I speak Chinese, many people think I seem like a native(母语的) speaker and that I even have a Beijing accent(口音). There is a saying in China, ruxiang suisu, which ______ “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Many people are ______ to hear how long I have lived in Beijing. In fact, China has become my home. What I like most ______ China is its traditional culture and long history. I’ve learned Chinese calligraphy(书法), martial arts and even ______ about traditional Chinese medicine, so I’ve truly experienced Chinese life.

When I was young, I was so interested in Chinese movies that I wanted to know more about Chinese culture like kungfu and xiqu. I often ________ to go to China one day.

Luckily, when I was learning theater at university, I was provided with a ________ to study abroad. There was a program to study Asian theater arts either in China or in India. I ________ to go to China and learn Beijing Opera in a Chinese theater school. The school offered me a place to practice. It was ________ because I could practice whenever I wanted. Also I had ________ lessons—the teacher would give me one-to-one class for three hours. That was the best part of my study in China. I do appreciate(感激) this chance to ________ the beautiful art.

I got a lot from my study in China. It has ________ influenced me and helped me develop into an excellent ________. This Chinese art gives me plenty of ________, so I can use them when I perform other shows in Europe. I have ________ an art center to teach Beijing Opera. Now there are more fans of Beijing Opera in my country.

I've learned English for almost six ________ since I was seven years old. I think English is more and more important, and at the same time, it is not ________ to learn it well.

We can learn English by watching English TV programs, ________ English books and trying to speak English ________ friends. Most of all, be patient and don't give up learning English easily.

I am not very good at English now, ________ I will go on trying my best to learn English well because I know practice makes perfect.