Communication has a highly psychological aspect
Communication has a highly psychological aspect—and people are constantly making judgments based upon it. Some features of your accent may be considered acceptable or even attractive by native speakers. On the other hand, there are some sounds (like a bad ‘TH’) that are regarded as unattractive, and even objectionable, by native speakers. This is why it’s a good idea to establish pronunciation priorities, attending to the most important matters first.
Speech is an intimate matter. When you improve your manner of speaking, you will find you’ve transformed something in your personality as well. Self-esteem and confidence are enhanced and your endeavors meet with increasing success.
Now that you have mastered basic English grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, you deserve congratulations. You would be fortunate, though, to also get a warning that you are in a new kind of danger zone—in danger of your English remaining as it is.
When you first started out, you received feedback indicating that you weren’t being entirely understood—such as people correcting you, or asking you to repeat things, or showing puzzled facial expressions. However, now you are successfully communicating on a basic level, your English is ‘good enough’ and you no longer get such corrections or clues.
At this point in the advancement of your English, you need to take deliberate steps for further improvement. Otherwise, chances are you will stabilize more or less at the present level of performance. If you are operating in a heavily or predominantly English language environment, you’ll want to go beyond present limitations so you can fully function in both business and your personal life. The best of all worlds is to attain a high level of proficiency in whatever language you need to speak—to be confident and relaxed, as much a member as you want to be, in any given group—articulate and effective in all situations.