Acquiring and retaining vocabulary knowledge are two of the most important aspects of second language (L2) learning. Some scholars (e.g. Hedrick, Harmom, & Linerode, 2004; Nation, 1999; Stone & Urquhart, 2008) advocate that we should re-think and explore in depth the importance of vocabulary. According to Wilkins (1972), "while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed" (p. 111). In other words, vocabulary is the foundation of language because without sufficient vocabulary knowledge L2 learners will not be able to express themselves satisfactorily or comprehend incoming information. Vocabulary items are thus the basic building blocks of language (Read, 2001) and their acquisition naturally leads to more efficient communication. Since, in today's academic settings, language courses are designed to develop learners' communicative competencies, translation has been overlooked. Accordingly, the study that will be presented had a total of 21 participants who took the course "Japanese Through Translation" designed for intermediate Japanese language learners during the 2016-2017 academic year at a public university in the United States. Participants took two different types of vocabulary quizzes which had a variety of lexical items they learned throughout the semester. This study examined two different ways of learning vocabulary -- deliberate and incidental -- one through communication and the other through translation, respectively. The results indicated that most of the words learners retained were those which had been taught by means of translation. Hence, it can be said that translation has a positive impact on the acquisition of vocabulary because learners have a better chance of coming across more lexicons/words when they are engaged in translation tasks. Although the role of translation in language pedagogy has still been underappreciated due to negative associations with the antiquated grammar-translation method, it is time to reconsider its effectiveness for L2 learning. [For the complete volume, "Rethinking Directions in Language Learning and Teaching at University Level," see ED594626.]