Translations, as some scholars aver, is not a futile process but a valid means of bringing the finest specimens of world literature within the ken of readers worldwide. An attempt is made here to assess the role of translation in all its variety – literal, word-for-word, transliteration, adaptation – when teaching English as a second language in a Tamil context. A particular text, Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, is taken as a case study. The author concludes that an ideal translation can be produced by a collaboration between an English professor and a Tamil professor, both having the same sense of theatre and equal degree of inspiration.