Accent anxiety — does it ever stop mattering to you?

Faded for me once colleagues stopped switching to English regardless of my accent. That shift in how people responded mattered more than any confidence work I did myself.

Some days better than others here too, solidarity.

Mild disagreement with chasing a “native” accent at all — I’ve stopped trying to lose mine entirely, and it’s been more freeing than the pursuit ever was.

Following, my accent gets commented on constantly, genuinely wearing after a while.

Does gently correcting people when they switch to English help, or does it come across oddly in your experience?

Worked fine for me when done lightly and with a smile — though that’s just what’s worked in my situation, not a universal rule.

Elena, I work at a pharmacy counter, so my accent is tested all day by people who are sick and impatient. At the start I apologised for it every few sentences. A regular customer, an older man, told me one day that he'd been served by people with worse English and less patience, and that I should stop apologising. It sounds small, but I stopped that week. My accent didn't change. The way I carried it did.

Olena, that customer deserves a medal. I've noticed I apologise too, before I've even made a mistake.

An update since I started this thread in June: I'm a bit further along. What helped most was something Rajesh said, about not chasing a native accent. Once I stopped trying to hide mine, I started talking more, and talking more did more for my English than any pronunciation practice. My daughter still laughs at how I say certain words, but now I laugh with her instead of feeling small. I think the self-consciousness never disappears completely, but it gets quieter, and some days I forget it altogether.

My French accent in English has been called "charming" more times than my actual English has been called correct. I've decided to take the compliment and keep going.