Stuttering and foreign languages

A friend of mine once shared with me that his stutter increases ten-fold when he is nervous or stressed. When he was relaxed, he stuttered only occasionally. Living abroad for the past 5 years, has been an exciting and stressful time for me. It's not only the fact that things work differently over here, but that I need to communicate in a foreign language on a daily basis. Being able to speak French has always been a dream of mine. However, the reality of having to speak it means so much for a stutterer. Not only does one have the added pressure of trying to communicate and think outside your mother tongue, but in addition maintaining the fluency of your speech and not stuttering. The pressure to be understood and pronounce the words correctly in French can be rather daunting at times. Although Brussels is the capital of Europe and many speak English here, the average Belgian may or may not speak English. Therefore, shopping at the grocery store or buying stamps require a basic knowledge of French. Recently, I've noticed that I stumble more and have more anxiety when I speak French. It's getting better the more I study the language, but I'm not always sure about the word pronunciation or if the person I'm speaking to can clearly understand me. Then I tense up and have a little "kick" as they say. Being a stutterer, I suppose I'm extremely critical of my speech and myself. If I can't do something absolutely perfect than its shit as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I also worry what people will think of me. "Is she stupid?" Being born with the handicap of stuttering, I feel like the tortoise who gets ridiculed for being slow in the children's book The Tortoise and the Hare (Le Liévre et La Tortue). Starting with an obvious disadvantage can be frustrating, but I know in the end if I keep plugging away I'll achieve my speech goals and cross the finish line. I surmise it's best just to not care about having perfect speech all the time. I should just do my best and if I stutter its not the end of the world. Now I just have to believe my own words...