The article describes the use vs. non-use of dictionaries by semi-professionals when translating a non-domain-specific text from L1 into L2 while thinking aloud. It was hypothesised that if post-graduate students had first been required to translate the passage to their satisfaction without dictionaries, they would not feel a great need to use them if they were given access to them at a later stage; and that, for students at this level, the use of dictionaries would have no significant effect on the quality of the product. The second hypothesis was confirmed, but no support could be found for the first. It is concluded that students overuse dictionaries, focussing too narrowly on lexical units at the expense of other factors such as context. In addition, the think-aloud protocols suggest that translation training focussing more specifically on the process provides a new pedagogical approach allowing to advize students on individual strengths and weaknesses.