“Final degree papers (trabajo de fin de grado) in Legal Translation within Translation degrees: an opportunity or a challenge?” One of the recent additions to Translation degree programmes in Spain has been the “trabajo de fin de grado”, or final degree paper (hereinafter,”TFG”), a component which was long known to other technical university programmes, but which constitutes a novelty in the area of Humanities. This module, which is a must for the obtention of the degree, has very specific characteristics of its own (see, amongst others, Rullán et al. 2010, Valderrama et al 2010, Rekalde 2011) , but probably the most salient one is the opportunity for students to supplement and integrate the training received in a specific area of translation. This is particularly important in a context where legal translation has comparatively lost weight in translation programmes in Spain (especially after the disappearance of automatic certification as sworn translators), and future developments may cause a further decrease in legal translation modules. In this scenario, the TFG may help students to gain further insights in legal translation through the choice of specific subject areas, both by exploring the main theoretical issues and practical translation resources. However, the most important benefit of final degree papers is, through hands-on experience, persuading students about the attractiveness of legal translation, which may at times also include helping them to reassess the specific nature of legal translation itself (see, for instance, Harvey 2002). In order to overcome these setbacks, careful planning is necessary, comprising background reading covering theoretical issues in legal translation (e.g. Alcaraz & Hughes 2001, Borja 2000), general introductions to legal translation research (Williams & Chesterman 2002), and specific samples of practical research (e.g. Borja & Prieto 2013). We will not pretend that this module is not without difficulties: many students lack enough training in legal translation, or may not be familiar with academic resources or with the formalities of academic papers, but all these setbacks should be seen not as obstacles, but as opportunities for students to fill in some of the gaps in their academic training and reinforce their awareness of the need for continuous learning all along their academic and/or professional career. Once the initial fears have been overcome, the experience may encourage them to further develop their skills, either through formal postgraduate courses or by self-directed learning, which may be especially important if legal translation is reduced to a minimum in degree programmes, since the ideal basic training once envisaged by Sparer (1988), in which not only the know-how was acquired, but also a basic understanding of the comparative legal systems and even of the margins within which the legal translator may operate, may become impossible. References Alcaraz, E. & Hughes, B. (2001): Legal Translation Explained. Manchester: St Jerome. Borja, A. (2000): El texto jurídico inglés y su traducción al español. Barcelona: Ariel. Borja, A. & Prieto, F., eds. (2013): Legal Translation in Context: Professional Issues and Prospects. Oxford, etc.: Peter Lang. Harvey, M. (2002). What’s so special about legal Translation? Meta, 47, 2: 177-185. Rekalde Rodríguez, I. (2011) ¿Cómo afrontar el trabajo fin de grado? Un problema o una oportunidad para culminar con el desarrollo de las competencias. Revista Complutense de Educación Vol. 22 Núm. 2 (2011) 179-193 Rullán Ayza, M. et al (2010) - La evaluación de competencias transversales en la materia trabajos fin de grado. Un estudio preliminar sobre la necesidad y oportunidad de establecer medios e instrumentos por ramas de conocimiento. Revista de Docencia Universitaria, Vol.8 (n.1) 74‐100 Sparer, M. (1988): “L’enseignement de la traduction juridique: une formation technique et universitaire”. Meta, 33-2, pp. 320-328. Valderrama, E. et al (2010). La Evaluación de Competencias en los Trabajos Fin de Estudios. IEEE-RITA Vol. 5, Núm. 3, Ago. 2010. Pp. 107-114. Williams, J. & Chesterman, A. (2002). The Map: A Beginners’ Guide to Doing Research in Translation Studies. Manchester: St Jerome.