I agree with ya Iĉo, the 'lr' is also hard, but at least if you stuff it up it won't become 'tĉrŝ'. Just like this Arabic speaker I met in Adelaide the other day, just stick a small 'uh' schwa sound in between all the consonants Unfortunately, 'tr' doesn't work that way for me I guess I need much more practice. But right now I have some serious Anime watching to do so ĝis!

ceigered:

T0dd:
Oh course, I see the importance in eliminating the 'accent' as erinja said, but for my confidence's sake, provided the endings and stress are correct, others should be able to understand, right? (Albeit alike a Scottish Highlander talking to a New Zealander)

My view is: Don't let it affect your confidence, but just be conscious of the fact that the schwa, which comes so readily to us, makes our Esperanto sound muddy and actually ugly to many others. It takes a lot of practice, and even when you think you've expunged it, it'll still be there, but probably just enough to be charming, not an obstacle to communication.

I should add that speakers of Russian also make liberal use of schwa, so it's not just anglophones who have this problem.