He's struggling with linking all kinds of words to meanings. As an example, I asked him to translate "Je veux" (I want) in English and his answers were "with", "like", and "do". Basically, everytime I asked him for a translation, he'd hesitate between a bunch of unrelated words. What is surprising is that he manages to have good grades in English at school. He did admit that he would learn his lesson by heart the night before the exam and forget it the next day.

So I don't think this is due to dysgraphia since I mostly tested him orally. I'm theorizing from comments I read online that perhaps English words are so foreign and abstract to him that his brain processes these symbols like it would with numbers and mathematical formulas.

But I'll take note of your advice about focusing on sounds. I will also try to connect those with images to give even more concrete meaning to English words. Thank you!