Theoretically, translation may pass as science; practically, it seems closer to art. Translation is a challenging activity requiring a set of abilities and posing few difficulties that appear during the translation process. This paper investigates the extent to which sub-technical vocabulary can constitute a problem to Romanian students of economics reading in English, by looking at the translations produced as independent or pair work during English classes and analyzing the various errors which may appeared. The exigencies required by the efficient business communication have increased in the past few decades because of rising international trade, increased migration, globalization, the recognition of linguistic minorities, and the expansion of the mass media and technology. All these led us to approach the topic of translation which is actually a job that requires skills, stages of research necessary for disclosure of transfer characteristic into the target language, training, experience and a good sense of languages. The paper defines the theoretical issues and terminology: translation, types of translation, economic texts and then focuses on the presentation of the practical work carried out throughout the academic year of second year students. Considering that only 28% of the entire European population can read English, and even less people in South America and Asia can, it is obvious that an effective communication of business matters relies on an accurate understanding of terminology. Economics is a field of knowledge in accelerated scientific and technological development. As there is a permanent and ever increasing need to quickly update their knowledge, economists read and learn directly in the original language of the publication and stick to it in daily usage, including conferences, scientific events and articles written in Romanian. Besides researching properly the markets, finding distribution channels, and dealing with legal issues, a successful business person should not neglect the language aspects, be it spoken or translated. These are some of the main reasons why we consider that our students as future graduates should be well-equipped with some of the skills necessary when reading and translating technical texts, be it for personal progress and development or for the job requirements.
