Mediation as a kind of language activity is very important for interaction between people. It is implemented mainly as translation and interpreting. However, translation and interpreting can be considered as not only the objective of learning and teaching but as very efficient tools of teaching a foreign language especially when the linguistic system of the native language differs greatly from the linguistic system of the foreign language.
The paper presents the practical experience how translation and interpreting are used in Russian education institutions for teaching and learning foreign languages. Other kinds of information reformulation (such as paraphrasing, making summaries etc.) are described. Pedagogical experience of different levels of Russian education institutions starting from primary schools and including higher education is provided. The topicality of the problem is determined by the educational potential of different kinds of mediation for foreign languages teaching and learning.