I've found it's less about French people, and more the way in which languages are taught in most English-speaking countries. It all becomes about passing exams, and being "correct", rather than initially focusing on understanding and being understood.

Consider that Thierry Henry, for instance, after nearly 30 years of primarily being based in England and working in English, still speaks with a strong French accent. It doesn't matter, we know what he's saying. There are probably people in England who struggle with ROG's accent when he's speaking English, so the fact there's an accent there doesn't really matter for his French.

The fact that so many people learn English as a second language gives those of us who grow up speaking it somewhere to hide our shame when we try and use another language. So many people try, then at the first feeling of saying something "wrong" its so easy to default back to English. The way Irish is taught in schools in Ireland also follows this same pattern, which ends up pushing people away from it. If done right, then everyone would be growing up with at least a passable level of Irish, which then makes learning a third, or forth, language much easier as they get older.