As a native English speaker, the opportunities to speak another language are greatly diminished as every foreign person I meet is trying to learn English!
The point of language is communication and that means primarily through speach. When we begin learning as toddlers we don't start reading and writing do we?
The Michel Thomas method is an excellent way to help you overcome the barriers to start speaking, which coincidently I am told by many students of foreign languages is so hard to do.
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Ed - if you want to hear how a language should really sound, always get some audio material that has native speakers. Or get a some practice with a teacher or speakers that are native speakers. If you happy with some other accent ... go for it. It's a free world.