Re: Severe Accent
Not true. When I lived in Denmark, I met a few Germans, Belgians, and French people and they took great pains to speak Danish like the Danes, even the ones that were tourists and only in Denmark for a short period of time. In Europe accent is viewed more fluidly and quite simply, as adjusting and fitting in to your surroundings.
That said, some people have a really bad ear for languages and have a difficult time learning other languages and speaking without an accent. I do not think they should be ashamed. However, I don’t believe accent or lack of it should be viewed as a matter of pride or shame in your mother tongue either.