Inability to Speak Native Tongue Fluently?

I'm in a similar situation. I'm born to Taiwanese parents, and while they are from Taiwan, I'm born in America. Sadly (or if you think otherwise), they never pushed me to speak, which I think was a huge detriment to my knowledge of Chinese/Taiwanese currently. The only thing I'm thankful of is that my mom speaks to me in both Mandarin and Taiwanese (mostly Taiwanese), and I would reply back in English. I went to Chinese school weekly up until college, and in college took a few intermediate Chinese courses that I placed in.

I can safely say that I understand Mandarin/Taiwanese if one speaks to me, but that is only my passive skill. Action skills (like speaking) is harder for me because I feel like my only barrier is my accent, which is embarassing and prevents me from speaking/practicing.

If anything, I wish my skill was better. Being afraid of a language because of its difficulty or embarassment is not going to get you anywhere - you are just running away. Are you just going to hide in a closet whenever you encounter a difficult situation? I find this as one of my lifelong struggles, and I have learned to accept it as such. One more obstacle to conquer, I suppose. I have no one to blame but myself.

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