Why are you specifying it was a woman?
It's not usual to avoid any mention of gender in English; some people avoid it for political reasons. But when you're translating a gender-marked word into an English equivalent which is not marked for gender, it's not idiomatic to add another word to indicate gender unless it's relevant to the topic at hand.
English lost most of its grammatical gender centuries ago. Since the 1960s and 1970s the parts that remain have become politically fraught in some circles, but usage varies by community. Unless you're deliberately wading into that fight, I'd stick to the way you were taught.
On a side not, I do miss that added context in English, especially in novels, when it's hard to guess just based on the names of the characters. It makes it easier for me to imagine them and evaluate interactions between them.
We can't just erase gender. People think in gender, and they consequently speak it. I don't think twice about mentioning "some guy" commented on my post, for example. Just the other day I decided to be even and refer to a hypothetical person by using "s/he", and even got called out on it.