In this paper, the author describes some typical problems raised by conference interpretation between cognate languages, with examples taken from the author’s professional and academic experience as free-lance interpreter for the European Communities and the private market as well as lecturer of conference interpretation from Spanish into Italian at the SSML (Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori) of the Univeristy of Trieste. On that basis, she proposes a preliminary approach to the development of a teaching methodology with a list of ad hoc exercises, most of which have been empirically tested in the classroom.