In recent years there has been an increasing interest among translation scholars and practitioners alike in promoting translation professionalism and hence winning recognition for Translation Studies as an independent discipline. Many have convincingly and justly argued for the existence of hard-core subject-matter knowledge for Translation Studies and have stressed the importance of this knowledge in the development of the students’ translational competence. Unfortunately, in this attempt, the importance of language competence and thus language training is unduly played down. This article examines this issue by looking at translator training in Hong Kong. Key issues for strengthening language training for translation students are also highlighted in this paper.