The study detailed here aims to highlight some of the most common translation errors made by 22 bachelor-level English specialists after completing six advanced English language skills courses during three semesters of study at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU)—the Sultanate of Oman’s national university. Students were asked to complete a translation task of a short text regarding the exploitation of energy sources in Africa by Europeans from English into Arabic. The study focused on examining participants’ translation errors with explicit reference to Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG). Findings indicate that respondents made a number of serious semantic errors stemming mainly from their misunderstanding of the English text, which can, despite their area of specialization, be attributed to their limited English proficiency. These results serve to offer some clearer guidelines about the content and focus to include in translation studies courses aimed at both Arab learners and those in similar contexts worldwide. Results further contradict a reportedly widely-held belief that the best translators are almost always those that translate into their native languages. Pedagogical implications of these outcomes are discussed.