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After all, I am not sure what does Tolkien think, but the word "hobbit" is a translation, the "real" Westron word is kuduk, right? Therefore, I don't see why it should not be translated.
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That's true, but hobbit is a Tolkien-invented word to represent a worn down form of
holbytla, itself an Old English based construction intended to mean 'hole-builder, hole-dweller'... as
kuduk was intended internally to represent a worn down form of a word used by the Rohirrim (thus 'Old English' holbytla)
kūd-dūkan 'hole-dweller'
So
kuduk has not simply been translated into English (as
Quendi or
Eldar with 'Elves'), but given an invented translation of Tolkien's own making, with the conceit of mirroring an internal relationship (kuduk to kūd-dūkan).