My Japanese teacher said that, for her, the English words “ear” and “year” are indistinguishable. I see how that could be, the words are very close, the ‘y’ so

My Japanese teacher said that, for her, the English words “ear” and “year” are indistinguishable. I see how that could be, the words are very close, the ‘y’ sound is very brief, but it helped me understand how something that is so clear for a native speaker could be very difficult for a foreigner to hear.