This paper is concerned with words in closely-related languages and their usefulness in a training programme for translator trainees. Starting with a description of the development of Translation Studies in a pedagogical context, the author sets out to outline how the acquisition of yet another language can be coherently situated in a translation curriculum by drawing on previous linguistic knowledge and language-learning experience, linking language learning and translation to linguistics, and practicising translation skills. The particular language pair discussed and illustrated is German (known language) and Dutch (new language). In this context, he emphasizes the importance for learners of recognizing different types of relation between lexical entities.