tener dificultades académicas
/teneɾ difikultades akademikas/from spelling rules
The English phrase "struggling academically" can be translated into Spanish as tener dificultades académicas.
This phrase is used to describe a student who is having difficulty learning or achieving good grades in school.
Which one should you use?
While tener dificultades académicas is a standard way to express this, you can also use tener problemas académicos by replacing dificultades with problemas to mean "to have academic problems".
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the verb tener (to have) to express the state of struggling.
Did you know?
- In some Latin American countries, a student who is struggling might be said to be en recuperación, implying they are in a period of recovery to save their grade.
- In many Latin American schools, instead of saying a student is 'struggling', teachers might say the student no está rindiendo, which literally translates to 'not yielding' or 'not performing'.
- While tener dificultades is formal, students might colloquially say they are estancados, meaning 'stagnant' or 'stuck', to describe their academic struggle.
Examples in context
- Mario está teniendo dificultades académicas este semestre.Mario is having academic difficulties this semester.
- Laura ha estado experimentando problemas en el ámbito académico durante el último año.Laura has been experiencing problems in the academic sphere over the past year.
- María no está logrando el rendimiento académico esperado en matemáticas.María is not achieving the expected academic performance in mathematics.
- Juan está yendo mal en los estudios últimamente.Juan is doing poorly in studies lately.
- Sandra está teniendo problemas con las asignaturas de ciencias.Sandra is having issues with science subjects.
- El estudiante está teniendo dificultades académicas este semestre.The student is having academic difficulties this semester.
- Él empezó a tener dificultades académicas este semestre.He started to have academic difficulties this semester.
- No quiero tener dificultades académicas en la universidad.I don't want to have academic difficulties at the university.
- Muchos estudiantes suelen tener dificultades académicas en matemáticas.Many students tend to have academic difficulties in mathematics.
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are discussing a friend's school progress.
- Daniel¿Sabes por qué Juan no estudia tanto?Do you know why Juan isn't studying as much?
- SofíaCreo que está empezando a tener dificultades académicas.I think he is starting to have academic difficulties.
- DanielEs una lástima para él.That is a shame for him.
- SofíaDeberíamos ofrecerle nuestra ayuda.We should offer him our help.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
