Accent softening/elocution

Any

Hi,
I would also like to contribute:-)
I am Czech with English husband. I live in England for 5 years (oh god, it will be 5 years this Christmas!)
When I came I only spoke little English. Now I study and work in England - as a manager by now - and I have an accent and I don't deny it. You either get on with my accent or you can p*** off (I even learned to swear in English:-)) But to be honest most people love my accent.
I also have a friend (my best friend) who came few month after I did. She also has an English boyfriend, also works and just started to work on her English qualifications. But according to people her english or her accent are nowhere near as good as mine.
And I know why - my husband is very precise about my english. About my pronounciation, about the way I put my sentences together and about the language I use (I cannot swear in front of him, otherwise I get the "look").
The beginning were hard. I couldn't tell a story without million interuptions from him "you don't say..", "it's not.." etc etc. It was very upsetting. We had many arguments. But IT WAS WORTH IT.
I know my friend's boyfriend doesn't correct her and constantly tells her how great her english is. She didn't have the need for improvement and she disregarded my husband when he corrected her. Until recently. When she got an office job, she admitted that many people in the office pointed out her use of superlatives and incorrect order of words in sentence. But as someone else here said, she finds it difficult to change it now because she is used hearing herself say those superlatives etc.
As for your son - my sister's daughter struggled to talk at all when other children did. Her speach therapist said she should stop speaking Czech to her. She is 4&1/2 year old now and she understand Czech but she will not speak it. Her english is brilliant but she doesn't want to stay with my mother (her grandmother) and she doesn't want to go out when we go to visit Czech friends. Please, whatever you do, do not deny your child the second language.
As for the shop returns you mentioned - my husband doesn't like going to the shops and you can ripp him off without trying. And he has "public school boy" perfect english accent. I walk in, open my mouth and they start returning things to me without asking. It is about personality, not skin colour or accent.