Many ESL speakers never bother improving their accent. While I’ve met tons of people who picked up perfect-sounding English over long periods of repeated use, I’ve also come across a lot who speak with the same thick, uncomfortable accent even after many years of working with language software and classes.
Why do some lose the accent and others don’t? Simply put, they never bothered trying to drop it. People who live in migrant communities, for instance, tend to speak continuously with the same accent, as everyone immediately around them also does the same. If you spend the bulk of your time with social groups that don’t speak with the accent, it’s highly likely you’ll naturally shave it off over time.
Should You Drop The Accent?
Should you even bother trying to drop your accent? After all, that unusual flick of the tongue speaks of your heritage and sets you apart from many of the people around you. Isn’t it more fitting to wear it like a badge?
Unfortunately, sporting a thick Chinese accent (that’s half-comedic, half-painful, like you hear from Jacky Chan, for instance) is a guaranteed way to communicate badly with native English speakers around you. I deal with a lot of French folks in my line of work and those that speak English with a hard French twist over the phone usually make my ears bleed. Honestly.
To me, dropping as much of the accent to a point where you can easily be understood is not only polite, it’s a necessity. If you’re in the US, finding success in business, life and career usually requires that people can actually understand what you’re saying without asking you to repeat it several times over.