Specialised translation presupposes the existence of an academic genre such as scientific language. The translator and/or the interpreter as well as the teacher should be trained at the non- academic or subject area level, to teach texts for specific aims in foreign languages. The purpose of this paper is to provide a short contrastive analysis of the nature of the subject matter both in French and in Vietnamese. It covers difficulties not only in the translation of scientific texts but also those related to two dissimilar languages arising from the original and from specific subject area issues.