how do you know when a c makes a "c" sound like in english and when it make a "s" sound??

Question

I need help

Answer 1

If I remember correctly, the "c" can take two different sounds in English. If it sounds like a "k" it is referred to as being hard. If it sounds like an "s" it is referred to as being soft.

In Spanish, if a "c" is followed by either an "e" or an "i" it is soft. Followed by any other letter (or in the rare case that it's the last letter in a word) it is hard.

Also, in Spanish the "s" and the soft "c" are never buzzed, as the English "z". Spanish speakers have a hard time differentiating between "president" and "precedent".

Oops! I forgot about "y". It does the same thing to the "c" that the "i" does.

By the way, the same rules generally apply in English.

Answer 2

I couldn't put it any better than CalvoViejo!

You may also find these references from here at SpanishDict useful:

Overview - The Alphabet

Spanish alphabet - how do letters sound

I hope that helps!