A friend of yours is really upset because she made a bad grade on a test. However, the grade wasn't really that bad. You think that she's too strict about her grades. You say:
There's no sense beating yourself up over it.
You wanted to be an actress when you were younger. Now, it's many years later. You're telling your niece the story of why you stopped acting. In part of the story, you say:
I came this close to packing up and moving out to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.
career (topic), gerund, moving, regret, storytelling, 日本語サポート 
You're studying massage therapy. You're not professional at it yet, but you need to practice. You're talking with your roommate about your training, and you want to ask her to let you practice on her. You say:
Would you mind being my guinea pig?
You made a really delicious banana nut bread. Your sister-in-law asks how you made it, and you’re explaining the recipe. You describe one step in the recipe:
Toasting the nuts really brings out their flavor!
cooking, food, gerund, intensifier, phrasal verb, 한글번역 
You're planning a vacation to France with one of your friends. You're making small talk about it with a coworker at your part-time job. You tell him:
This is my first time going to Europe, so I'm super pumped.
adverb, enthusiastic, excitement, experience, gerund, intensifier, slang, travel (topic) 
Your teenage son has been hanging out with a group of older guys who you don't like: they're rude, lazy, and like to start fights with people. You tell your son:
I don't like you running around with that crowd.
You often have to work late hours. Today you wanted to leave work at 6:00, but you were too busy. Now it's 8:00, and you're still working. You think to yourself:
So much for leaving at a decent time...
You're volunteering for an organization that works to reduce poverty (the number of poor people). You're giving out information at a college campus. You want a student who's walking by to notice and care about your cause, so you say:
Are you aware that one in five families has trouble putting food on the table every day?
gerund, idioms, issue, percentage, poverty, subject-verb agreement, volunteering 
You're watching the news and you hear some news about a volcano. The newscaster says:
Mount Shinmoedake, a volcano in southern Japan, began erupting earlier this week.
TV, emergency, gerund, natural disasters, news 
You organized an event for people who want to practice giving speeches in English. A lot of people came to the event. Now you're going to welcome everyone and introduce the first speaker. The first thing you say is:
Thank you all for coming. Wow, what a great turnout.
