  For a set $\mathbb{W} \subset L_p(\bT^d)$, $1 < p < \infty$, of multivariate
periodic functions on the torus $\bT^d$ and a given function $\varphi \in
L_p(\bT^d)$, we study the approximation in the $L_p(\bT^d)$-norm of functions
$f \in \mathbb{W}$ by arbitrary linear combinations of $n$ translates of
$\varphi$. For $\mathbb{W} = U^r_p(\bT^d)$ and $\varphi = \kappa_{r,d}$, we
prove upper bounds of the worst case error of this approximation where
$U^r_p(\bT^d)$ is the unit ball in the Korobov space $K^r_p(\bT^d)$ and
$\kappa_{r,d}$ is the associated Korobov function. To obtain the upper bounds,
we construct approximation methods based on sparse Smolyak grids. The case
$p=2, \ r > 1/2$, is especially important since $K^r_2(\bT^d)$ is a reproducing
kernel Hilbert space, whose reproducing kernel is a translation kernel
determined by $\kappa_{r,d}$. We also provide lower bounds of the optimal
approximation on the best choice of $\varphi$.
