Regional differences in pronunciation

Ecuador is often promoted as a good place to learn Spanish, in part because Ecuadoreans speak something quite close to "neutral" Spanish, one that would be easily understood everywhere and without a strong accent. Indeed, that is true — but that doesn't mean there are no differences from the pronunciation of other Latin Americans.
 
During my few days on Ecuadorean coast so far, the biggest difference I have noticed from "standard" Latin American Spanish is the tendency of some speakers to strongly pronounce the ll. It isn't pronounced as strongly at it is in Argentina, where it is quite similar to the "zh" sound of the "s" in the English word "measure." But neither is it the same as the "y" sound of the English word "yolk."
 
Also, there is the tendency among some speakers to drop the "s" sound at the end of syllables, even within a word.
 
Today I talked with an Ecuadorean who has traveled throughout her country, and she told me that are differences in Ecuador, just as there are within the United States. It is often possible to tell what part of the country a person comes from by the accent, she said, just as it is in the United States.
 
None of the differences are so pronounced (pun intended, I suppose) that you would be steered wrong to imitate any Ecuadorean in your speech. The lesson here is that just as there are regional variations in English, so are there regional variations in Spanish. Which pronunciation style you decide to adopt may depend in part on where you will be using Spanish the most.