This paper attempts to set up a framework within which the contributions in the book (Corpora in translator education) can be interpreted, and surveys some recent developments in the compilation and use of corpora for cross-linguistic research and translation studies. Research questions and applications are considered, and different models for the building of multilingual corpora are presented, with particular reference to recent work at the University of Oslo. The paper stresses that corpora provide openings for both learning and research. Access to corpora may even help to bring learning and research together. This is an auspicious time to focus on corpus use and learning to translate.