The following sound can help you to find out whether your interlocutor is Spanish or Latin American.
The sound [Ɵ] in Spain is articulated by placing the tip of the tongue between the top and the bottom front teeth, like the English th in the word theatre. This sound before a, o, u is represented by the letter Z (ceta), and before e, i by the letter C (ce):
cero – [Ɵero]
zoo – [Ɵoo]
In Latin America, this sound is pronounced like the English “s”:
ESPAÑA: caza [caƟa] ≠ casa [casa]
AMÉRICA LATINA: casa = caza [casa]
Why don’t we learn the Latin American variant, it’s much more simple, you might ask? First, learning the Spanish variant, you’ll learn to distinguish the words containing the two different phonemes – and at the same time you’ll learn the spelling. Second, the Spanish variant is an international standard, while each Latin American country has its own variant. However, if you’re going to live in a certain country, you should definitely learn the peculiarities of its pronunciation.
There is no combination ze, zi in Spanish, except for
Nueva Zelanda
zinc
zen