This article discusses the advantages of language corpora use in the modern university translation classroom.  Corpora can be valuable resources for translation students and also a solid base for development of professional translator competence.  The rationale for using a corpus as a valuable teacher/ learner recourse and a learner tool is outlined. The article traces links between work in the corpus linguistics community and the world of practicing translators. A few suggestions are put forward in order to encourage a wider discussion on challenges in translation education.