English does have a major advantage over more tonal or accented languages and that is that pronunciation and grammar are not critical to understanding people sp

English does have a major advantage over more tonal or accented languages and that is that pronunciation and grammar are not critical to understanding people speaking it as a second language. Correct grammar would say e.g. "Are you French?" but if someone says, "You are French?" or even "You French?" then the meaning is still there, especially if a foreign accent means somebody is not speaking their first language. But I also agree that many native English speakers forget that just because someone speaks quite good English doesn't mean you can speak at 200wpm using idioms and advanced grammar. I think this is mostly because we have become so used to people speaking English that we forget there are degrees of ability. I am aware of this with some people where I will speak slightly more slowly and perhaps use more simple words e.g. "get" instead of "gain" etc.