to encourage

Question

what would be a good Spanish translation of the verb "encourage" as, for example, in:

the important thing is for his parents to encourage (or give more encouragement) to Juan at home when he does his homework'

I only need the best word for encourage. I don't much like apoyar, nor animar. Is there a better word? What about the noun (encouragement) as in "the trick is for the parents to give more encouragement at home to students who are having trouble keeping up in class"?

Again, I only need the best word for encouragement in this context!

Tx!

"

Answer 1

I just want to second Lazarus' suggestion of finding another way to express the idea. The word encourage is very difficult to translate into Spanish, and in most cases a work-around is necessary.

Lo importante es que los padres les den más ayuda en casa a los estudiantes a quienes les está resultando difícil mantenerse al nivel de la clase.

That's my attempt.

Answer 2

You could use "estimular", defined in Spanish as incite or encourage people to do something pro-actively, normally for their own development. As a noun, a literal translation will not work here, I think. I suggest "... los padres se preocupen de sus hijos en casa" or "...los padres se preocupen de lo que sus hijos hacen en casa". Literal translations simply don't work.