concerning accents, I've had a lot of experience "dealing with"[1] people who speak English with a foreign accent, so I thought I reached a point where I could

concerning accents, I've had a lot of experience "dealing with"[1] people who speak English with a foreign accent, so I thought I reached a point where I could pretty much decipher anything automatically. a year or so ago I went to a research conference, with a lot of people from Europe presenting. Generally, everyone there had a good handle on the language (as you might when presenting a bunch of stuff in English all the time), but about halfway through an American came on stage to present her work. The instant she started talking I realised that listening to her was so much easier than listening to anyone else talk. I "confirmed" this from other talks by americans compared to european talks. Not the most scientific thing but generally I think there is extra work happening in the brain when listening to a foreigner talk, and that it can be the point that makes something hard to deal with. [1] I mean this with as little animosity as possible. Having the courage to learn a foreign language and then present in it is extremely commendable.