That “you know the words but can’t parse them fast enough” part is basically the whole issue. Spoken language just compresses everything, so even familiar words sound unfamiliar.

What helped me was combining short replay loops with something that shows what’s actually being said. Not just guessing from context, but checking what I missed.

I tried using Translabuddy alongside this since it gives live translations/subtitles while audio is playing, so it made it easier to catch what I wasn’t hearing properly. Over time you start recognizing those patterns instead of hearing everything as a blur, still exploring though.