Learning German, advice or help appreciated!

[abaris]

One of the things I'm struggling the most with right now is Ihr vs Er.  They sound identical to my ear, and the only way to tell the difference is in the context of the verb, like Er hat or irh habt.  He, you, they...ugh.
But since I'm still learning which verb form goes with which pronoun, I find I'm mistaking this one often.   

The die, der, das for "The" is a tad confusing, but after I hear it attached to the noun a handful of times, I find I'm able to remember it reflexively....most of the time.

You'd have to given me a concrete example for that. Ihr can have different meanings. Posessive for a female person or item, as in her's, or politely adressing another person you're not very close with.

Ihr and Er shouldn't sound the same. The I in Ihr is, pardon my french, spellled like the I in shit. The H is only there to symbolize that the word is drawn out when spoken. The E in Er, well, again, think of the A in take or make and you come pretty close.

But since you mentioned Ear, come to think of it, it rather sounds like the word Ihr should be spelled.