When speaking with parents or colleagues in Spanish about a student’s academic performance, it’s important to know how to describe learning difficulties in a respectful and clear way. Spanish has several natural phrases that can help you express challenges while maintaining a supportive tone.
Here are two key ways to talk about students’ difficulties in Spanish:
1️⃣ Tener dificultades con…
This structure is straightforward and polite. It translates to “to have difficulties with…”
💬 Structure:
[Nombre] tiene dificultades con + [noun or infinitive verb]
🧾 Examples:
- Ella tiene dificultades con la comprensión lectora.
(She has difficulties with reading comprehension.) - Él tiene dificultades con las matemáticas.
(He has difficulties with math.) - El estudiante tiene dificultades para concentrarse.
(The student has difficulties concentrating.)
💡 You can use “para + infinitive” to describe the specific action that’s difficult (e.g. para escribir, para expresarse, para enfocarse).
2️⃣ Le cuesta…
This is another common way to describe challenges, and it’s very natural in spoken Spanish. It literally means “it’s hard for him/her…” but works more like “he/she struggles with…”
💬 Structure:
[Indirect object pronoun] + cuesta + [infinitive verb or noun]
Use “le” for he/she, “les” for they, and “me/te/nos” for I/you/we.
🧾 Examples:
- Le cuesta leer en voz alta.
(He/She struggles to read aloud.) - Les cuesta seguir instrucciones.
(They have a hard time following directions.) - A veces, le cuesta enfocarse durante la clase.
(Sometimes, it’s hard for him/her to focus during class.) - Me cuesta recordar los verbos irregulares.
(I have trouble remembering irregular verbs.)
✅ This phrase is often used with an “A [nombre]” for clarification, like:
A Juan le cuesta terminar los ejercicios a tiempo.
(Juan has a hard time finishing the exercises on time.)
🗣 Other Useful Vocabulary:
- dificultades de aprendizaje – learning difficulties
- problemas de atención – attention problems
- bajo rendimiento – low performance
- necesita más apoyo – needs more support
Talking about students’ challenges in Spanish doesn’t have to be difficult! These phrases will help you communicate effectively and compassionately with Spanish-speaking families and colleagues.
👩🏫 Want more Spanish for educators?
Join our Spanish for Teachers workshops throughout the year — designed to help you speak with confidence in the classroom and at parent-teacher conferences.
