The aim of this paper is to present an analytical reflection on the practice of translation in the Spanish-speaking world, particularly in Colombia, based on professional experience in the publishing industry during the last 10 years. It is also an attempt to draw theoretical guidelines from translation practice and, hopefully, to address specific difficulties of a translation process undertaken in the peripheries of a transnational language. This paper atternpts to collect research data from experience, as one of the problems for conducting research in the Third World countries is the unavailability of information already processed according to standards of scientificity, Research in the Third World may require devising a way for collecting data, and devising new conceptual grids.