Your accent might stick around for life. Your fear of speaking doesn’t have to.

An accent is mostly a record of where your mouth learned its first language, and it can stay for decades without getting in the way of a single conversation. What does get in the way is the silence that comes from dreading it. People understand accented speech all the time; they cannot understand a sentence you decided not to say.

Aim at being understood rather than at sounding native. Speak first in your next class or conversation, before you have time to rehearse. If somebody mishears you, repeat it more slowly instead of apologising, and notice how little anybody cares how it sounded.