I had the best of intentions to learn Japanese when I moved to Tokyo. And yet, more than halfway into my three years here, I’m still essentially mute in the language millions around me speak. I’m not proud that I can only sling a few phrases around, but I’m also not beating myself up over it either. I’ve had an incredibly rich experience living here without having a proper grasp on the language.

To be clear, I did initially try. I paid for a class, signed up for daily language emails and listened to basic Japanese YouTube....