Can't understand what people are saying...

For about 8 months now, I can't understand the words that come out of people's mouths. It's like all the words run together and I can't make out specific words. It sounds like jibberish at first and I have to ask for clarification a lot. It's not the meaning of the words but the words themselves. It's hurting my self-esteem because I just feel really slow. This has never happened before. Does anyone else experience this? Or even know what this is called? Dissociation??