Listening comprehension

I have difficulty hearing the difference in the conjugation as in the following example:

Il monte → Ils montent (monter-mount, rise)

Dialogue context can be followed further in the conversation.

How French people get to understand each other on the fly?

Based on my early (re)introduction to French, I am learning that listening + pronunciation are the most complex of the four languages I have studied/speak.  Colloquial speech makes it even more complex.  It's not insurmountable, but a particular challenge, as far as I have discovered.

Your example is only discernible via context, not the pronunciation, as with the rest of French.  It's less of a problem with Italian or Spanish.

Yes, I have to agree with Chris. 

There is no difference to hear, since the letters that make the difference are silent ;-)
It's the comprehension challenge that is special to French and you have to get it from the context.

Bonjour à tous,

That is indeed one of the biggest challenges with learning French. 

Context is usually the big give away as to which form of the verb or who we are talking about. That can be done by listening for adjectives and liaisons, or commonly people will repeat the subject of the sentence separately for clarity if need be. 

Some dialects also differentiate in terms of pronunciation and that includes voicing normally non-voiced letters, adjusting the pronunciation or using different words so that it becomes clear exactly what is being said. 

I realise this doesn't make the situation any more manageable, but I just wanted to add a little more context. This pronunciation issue in French can even lead to misunderstandings between native speakers, so this really is just one of those challenges we all have to contend with in speaking French. Don't fret over it though, you'll get used to it.

Happy learning!

   -   Mitchell