I started skiing last winter.

He chose to leave.

He succeeded in effacing his past failures.

The decision of his going and staying is left to him.

The flow of the river washed away the sand on the shore.

The rain fell heavily, washing away the dirt on the road.

The criminal fled from the scene.

He decided to consign his past failures to oblivion.

The four tones of Chinese, namely ping, shang, qu, and ru, I particularly find the rising tone (jōshō) difficult.

He is the type of person who forgets the heat once it passes the throat.