The dynamics of immigration, international commerce and the postcolonial world make it inevitable that much translation is done into a second language, despite the prevailing wisdom that translators should only work into their mother tongue. Rather than seeing translation into a second language as deficient output, this study adopts an interlanguage framework to consider second language translation as the product of developing competence - learning to translate is seen as a special variety of second language acquisition. Components of translation competence are identified, such as the ability to create stylistically authentic texts in English, the ability to monitor and edit output, and the psychological attitudes that the translator brings to the task. It also discusses translator supply and demand and translation pedagogy - important for all involved in the teaching or practice of translation.