Translation is an intercultural communication activity and the translator is a communicator between two different cultures. So what kind of skills does s/he need to be competent communicator? This paper aims to find out how background knowledge can affect the process of translation. First of all, in this paper, the process of translation will be analyzed as an activity of the translator, introducing previous studies about the given process. The analysis will be divided into two step; reading and understanding of source text, re-expression or production of target test. Finally, the effects of background knowledge will be proved in this process analysis in order to emphasize its importance and clearly present a proper direction in translation teaching.