Exactly, Brandon. As I always say, the way you speak is the way you expect to hear, and it’s a lot easier to learn proper pronunciation (including prosody) from the start (preferably before learning 10000 words and 1000 grammar points with bad pronunciation). If a learner learns to distinguish “bitch” and “beach” *first*, everything is going to be a lot easier. (That is actually pronunciation rather than “accent”, but most learners have no way of knowing which is which, so they should really try to imitate everything as closely as possible.) Also, a foreign “accent” is only charming when it’s very light, after the learner has made a serious effort to achieve good pronunciation. If the rhythm is off, for example, it’s going to be hard for native speakers to understand, and let’s face it, people choose the path of least resistance. And like I said, if the learner’s rhythm is off, he won’t understand when natives speak with native rhythm. In fact, the learner will complain that "natives speak too fast". Ironically, natives will say the same thing about the learner. Finally, a foreign accent does not represent “who you really are”. It’s actually like a hockey player playing in a basketball game, ignoring the rules of basketball, and playing hockey. When learning a language, it’s important to pay attention to everything: culture, pragmatics, grammar, vocabulary, idiomatic expression, and most especially the one thing that is always evident as soon as one opens one’s mouth — pronunciation.
