¿ Ceceo o No ? To 'th' or not to 'th'...
Question about using mixed learning resources, some that pronounce the ceceo, and others that don't. Should I strive for consistency, or doesn't it matter if I end up saying 'asser' for 'hacer' but 'manthana' for 'manzana'... ?
10 Answers
In Spain , they use the ceceo (soft C sound on words with a c such as gracias and and z such as luz and pez) which contrasts with the Spanish-speaking people from Latin America which don't do this when pronouncing such words.
Whether you, as a non native, choose to use it (the ceceo) depends really to a great extent on whether you wish to speak the Castellano (Spanish) that comes from Spain or the Spanish spoken in South and Central America I do not consider either one superior or inferior , It is just a matter of personal choice. 
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Despite having been born in Peru I have chosen to focus on learning Castellano because I have more opportunity to go to Spain...besides, it is much cheaper than going to South America. (although I would love to be able to afford to visit the country of my birth)
This has not made any difference to being able to understand Spanish spoken by people in other Spanish speaking countries..from Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia etc....or being able to make my self easily understood.
What matters, above all is that you are consistent. I rememebr asking another native speaker called Heidita about the pronounciation of the word botella because some natives that I had encountered in life pronounced the ll like a y sound (which I had been taught) while other natives pronunced the word more like: bo tey ja with a soft j sound. If I remember correctly what she said, Heidi pointed out that both were used but it was important to be consistent and stick to one pronounciation while speaking Spanish...I believe the same approach should be taken with regard to the use of the ceceo.
I hope this helps
Or does it really not matter at all ?
That's up to you. If you want to sound like a Spaniard, then "th" away. If not, then don't.
For native Spanish speakers accent is typically not a choice, but rather the result of where they were born and raised. For learners like us, it's a choice.
Since I am not likely to be in Spain speaking Spanish (I live in the middle of the USA), I have not tried to learn "ceceo". To me as an English speaker it just adds a level of difficulty that I don't want to deal with. Regardless of what you hear, if you are reading as part of your Spanish lessons, you should be able to just be consistent with "s" for s, c, and z. I think everyone has given you excellent answers.
Please fill your language profile...
Do you even know why it is happening? The difference between ceceo and not ceceo?
So you understand then that your question is the exact equivalent of asking if I should pronounce water the way you do or like Americans do.
Well, I guess I'm so immersed in many varieties of English-language that I've never really thought about it that way. I suppose the AE pronunciation of 'water' is closer in 'woder', whereas in England they say 'wotah' while in Scotland we say 'woterrr' or 'waaterrr'. What could strike me as odd, however, would be if a non-native English-speaker were to pronounce some words with a British accent and others with an American accent, although I doubt it would affect comprehension.
Todavia, gracias :-D
OK falda:
So you understand then that your question is the exact equivalent of asking if I should pronounce water the way you do or like Americans do.
C?
Son buenas repuestas, muy útilas.
Muchas gracias. Consistency seems to be the way forward (so now I need only choose which to be consistent with). Although, regarding comments that natives to Spain speak Castellano with the ceceo, I have to say that during my visits to mainland Spain and her islands I think I've heard both ceceo and non-ceceo, e.g. in the word 'gracias'. However, as a non-Spaniard myself, I cannot tell whether some of these speakers mightn't originate from mainland Spain / islands. So far most of my visits have been to Catalan/Mallorquin-speaking parts, so I wonder if this makes any difference. Incidentally, I think I've also heard other varieties of 'gracia', including one that seems to drop the final 's' so it becomes 'gracia' (non-ceceo).
Do you even know why it is happening? The difference between ceceo and not ceceo?
Well, I hope I'm not naive enough to fall for the old myth about the Spanish King who spoke with a lisp. I suppose different dialects evolved differently to the point where Castellano had a distinct 'th' sound for c and z, yet the other dialects, including S.American, didn't follow suit. But what I want to know is whether, at this early stage in learning, I should choose to prefer using 'th' or not. Some of my audio discs avoid it, and I'm learning a lot form them, particularly verb conjugations. However, other resources do use it, so at the same time I'm also picking up 'th', particularly for vocab. My natural inclination is to use 'th', as I've been aware of its use for c and z for a long time, even though I was largely ignorant of the language and its vocab (that said, it does make the pronunciation of some words more tricky (like Escoces)). If I sometimes pronounce c / z as 's' yet at other times as 'th', will this sound weird to Spanish ears ? Could it affect comprehension ? Or does it really not matter at all ?
Oh, I see how this works :-D... This was going to be the question: Acabo de empezar aprender español hace dos semanas y tengo unos discos los que hacen el ceceo y unos otros los que no lo hacen. ¿ Es importante que << I maintain consitency (lo siento; no tengo las palabras) >> o puedo decir unas palabras con el ceceo y las otros sin el ?
