Ihave a hard time hearing the difference between et and est in speaking. for example, i'm not sure how to audibly differentiate:
jacob et son frère.
jacob est son frère.
they both make sense (jacob and his brother; jacob is his brother), so how do you tell them apart in speaking, since et and est make similar sounds? do you just have to ask for clarification?

I completely relate to this issue! In French the last letter is not often pronounced however in this case it’s still difficult to hear the difference 2 tips; listen to the context and est is usually said a bit softer than et which is pronounced similar to é.
If you are unsure its ok to ASK.
I hope this was helpful!

Hello! i'm marianne and i'm from montpellier, france. here is a picture of my family. in the photo, they are my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, and my parents. they are in the garden at my grandparents' house. this is my grandmother's birthday on november 8 and we are all at home for this occasion. my grandmother is seventy-nine! my grandfather is older. he is eighty years old! my uncles and aunts are very nice and interesting. they are with my parents and my grandparents in the picture. i take the picture and that's why i'm not in the picture. i'm happy with my grandparents because my cousins are there when we're here and we talk and play together. it's fun to be with the family. my family is very good and active. i love my family! how is your family? do you have cousins and grandparents? where are they?

You wouldn’t wanna get involved with someone like that there’s a lot of drama and if he can do that to his current girlfriend then he’ll probably end up doing it to you