Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has come to play a prominent role in translator-training curricula, although mainly in the more advanced stages of training. In the earlier stages, i.e. when students are still being introduced to the basics of translation methodology and to contrastive aspects of the languages they learn, the use of CMC resources is much more limited. After a brief overview of some problems and issues involved in the creation of CMC resources for the initial training of translators, the paper reports on work carried at the University of Padua for the creation of a web site (called Puzzle it Out) intended to support the English-Italian translation modules offered within the degree course in Cultural and Linguistic Mediation.