It's the same for me in French. I can understand Americans (who have a thick accent) much more easily than natives. I think it's because my brain can tune into

It's the same for me in French. I can understand Americans (who have a thick accent) much more easily than natives. I think it's because my brain can tune into the palette of sounds produced by Americans more readily. Some sounds that are very distinct to natives sound the same to me; it artificially inflates the number of homophones I have to deal with.