My students know I am a vociferous opponent of using translation in teaching.

Yes, vociferous.

You can argue, frothing at the mouth, that benefits abound. And I will argue, frothing at the mouth, that translation is to blame for the fact that when a person joins a C1+ writing group, it turns out they don't know the difference between:

- It is good.

- This is good.

- That is good.

Or they think they do and will even be able to offer an explanation. But then, without batting an eye, they will write something like: "I wrote an essay. It is good because I never write."

Translation is a source of future mistakes. (c) Irina Lutsenko