Question: regarding the ‘k’ sound.

@Diegocorry
Absolutely true! I think some places do pronounce the K's more gutturally than others, and the sound made often depends on the location of the "k" in the word.I made a post about this ~ 2 years ago, too:
www.tagalog.com/mess age_board/view_messa ge.php?p=7194
...two native speakers responded there as well.

@jkos Interesting parallel: ‘gonna’ vs. ‘going to’. Thanks.

K in between two vowels is very much like a german "ch" sound. Some speakers go so far as to say "kch" which is more akin to the famous Swiss german "ch" sound. It is similar to Americans, Canadians, and Australians saying "budder" for "butter". It is a well known allophone of /k/ in tagalog. The ipa for the "kch or ch" sounds would be [kx] and [x] respectively. The wikipage on Tagalog phonology can tell you more.

K is pronounced without so much breath (idk how to explain it)
Like, it doesn't sound too crisp? Maybe more on the gluttural?

The trick is to listen, listen, listen to native speakers. Your brain will get the hang of it that way regarding the elusive k sound. May I add that you must repeat, repeat, repeat until your speech apparatus...teeth, tongue, lips, nose, facial muscles...finally do it right!

I heard many of my family members alternate between hard and soft K's regardless of region. I personally do the same. I tend to make my K's softer, sometimes almost "invisible" like the example when speaking fast and/or in a lower voice. And when I'm speaking slower and/or louder I usually use harder K's.

@borr Thank you! That is very helpful. Toni