Did anyone else have a lot of trouble initially with the language of a country they had visited, but for some reason found the accent to be much easier to understand afterwards?

I'm not sure if I've posted this question here before, but I'm interested to see what people's thoughts are.<br><br>For me, German was one such language that I had trouble with initially. When I first started learning German I found the pronunciation, accent and grammar quite troublesome. But, at the time, I had spent many years living in Germany. I think that may have contributed to me finding it easier to learn German, which is what made me wonder if I had a one-off experience.<br><br>I also had a lot of trouble with Russian, but I had never been to Russia. When I started taking classes, my teacher spoke with a Belarusian accent, and somehow, from the first class, it was much easier. She was also a great teacher which of course helped, but my impression was that the accent was easier to understand, and the language did not look as terrifying as it did before.<br><br>I have now started learning Swedish, and I've also never been to Sweden. I opted for the beginner classes with a teacher from Norway. For me, I can safely say that suddenly the Swedish language does not seem that hard anymore. I actually even find myself preferring the Swedish accent.<br><br>So, this got me wondering - for those who have traveled to a country and learned the language after, did you find it significantly easier to understand the language after having lived there for a little while, and did you also find the accent of the language significantly easier to understand? Conversely, did you find a language easier to learn because of the accent of a particular teacher, even if you had never been to a country where the language was spoken?