"ayuda."

I hear one as a- you- tha and the other a-zhu-tha Are both acceptable?

interesting - I've only heard it as "a-you-tha", but for many words (especially those with 'll" or "y") there are many different slight variations in accents.

Perhaps I am pronouncing "ayuda" incorrectly, however for me I use a very soft "d". a you da "comida" ko me da Other positions with "d"...dar (to give) and all its conjugations in the present tense. Well, I better stop there because I may be opening a big can of worms!

I think you're right Patrice, sometimes the soft "d" sorta sounds like "th". I think the d sounds a bit harsher when it is at the beginning of a word though - like "dar", "dueno", "decir" and the like. I hear so many different sounds from latino friends and neigbors that I don't really think it's worth stressing over though. Worse that can happen is they ask ¿como?