Identifying speech in noisy conditions requires both native and non-native listeners to cope with decreased intelligibility and thereby an increased cognitive load. The current study examined in four speech reception threshold (SRT) conditions how energetic (stationary, fluctuating) and informational (two-talker babble Swedish, two-talker babble English) maskers interfered with target speech in Swedish (native language) and English (non-native language). The participants also performed standardized tests in English proficiency, nonverbal reasoning and working memory capacity; the latter in both Swedish and English. Twenty-three normal-hearing native Swedish listeners participated, 13 females and 10 males, age-range between 28 and 64 years.The main result was that the target language, masker type and English proficiency all affected speech perception. The SRT’s were better when the target language was Swedish. The informational maskers were interfering more with perception than energetic maskers, specifically in the non-native language. High English proficiency was beneficial in three out of four conditions when the target language was English. The findings suggest that English proficiency is essential regarding automaticity in perceiving this non-native language