JapanesePod101.com Blog

Shibuya Crossing at Night [photo by Emily Carsch]

It is easy to get distracted by all of the lights, sounds, colors, and people at this large intersection. This photo gives you a good idea of the beginning of my Tokyo Adventure!

Hello JapanesePod101.com listeners!

My name is Emily, and I’ll be interning at JapanesePod101.com’s Headquarters in downtown Tokyo for two months. I will be visiting and staying in Japan for the first time. While I’m so happy to be here, I have a big problem…

I don’t speak Japanese!

Now, while it may seem like I’m in trouble, I’ve already come up with a solution. I’m going to learn survival Japanese using JapanesePod101.com’s Survival Phrases and SurvivalPhrases.com Japanese. As I’m only here for 2 months, I need Japanese basics, and I need them fast! Plus, this will be a great way for me to see if these courses live up to the hype. (I hope my boss doesn’t see this!)

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Here’s a quiz for you. If you combine a horse and an insect, what do you get?

A fly on a horse?

Flies
Photo credit: Erin Tyner

A fly’s view of a horse?

View of an Approaching Fly
Photo credit: Bill Adams, HawaiiToday.com

A horsefly?

Horsefly
Photo credit: Mike Keeling

A horse that flies?

Actually, it’s none of those. I was just playing with you. Horsing around, you could say. OK, let me rephrase the question and give you slightly more legitimate choices. If you combine a horse and an insect, what new animal do you get?

1. a bird
2. a wolf
3. a rabbit
4. a cow

With most quizzes, I give the instant gratification of an answer. This time, you’ll have to wait a bit, while I assemble the various components of an explanation.

For now, I can show you how a horse (馬) and an insect (虫) mate, producing the following kanji:

騒 (SŌ, sawa(gu): clamor, noise, disturbance; to make a fuss)

On the Etymology of 騒 …

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