A Cuppa with Huda
Our Arabic Linguist of the Month
October 2026
Meet Dr. Huda Al-Hussain: English–Arabic Linguist
5 min read
Dr. Huda Al-Hussain
An English–Arabic translator and simultaneous interpreter with over 21 years of experience across legal, medical and technical work. A Chartered Linguist with the CIOL, ISO 17100 certified translator, ATA member and holder of an MBA and DBA, Huda brings rigour and real enthusiasm to every assignment.
Each month, we explore languages and connect with the people who bring them to life. This month, we’re diving into Arabic with Dr. Huda Al-Hussain, a Chartered Linguist who moves between binding legal documents, oil and gas technical manuals and live medical interpreting calls — often in the same week. She also won first place in the English–Arabic category of ProZ.com’s 31st Translation Contest on her very first attempt. We sat down with her to talk about how she found her way into the profession, and why she finds interpreting so thrilling.
Q: How did you end up working between English and Arabic?
My parents were both doctors, and growing up I always wanted to work in medicine. My academic path shifted towards business instead — I earned my Bachelor’s degree and MBA, and took a role as a senior technical coordinator and admin assistant in the oil and gas sector. Alongside the admin work, I translated technical oil and gas articles from Arabic to English for the General Manager, and my colleagues noticed I had a natural talent for it. They encouraged me to take on freelance work. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when I decided to pursue my Doctorate in Business Administration, I turned to professional translation to fund my studies. The moment I started, I realised I had found what I was created for.
Q: What are your main fields of specialisation?
Legal work is a big one. I completed a Diploma in Legal & UN Translation at the American University in Cairo, alongside coursework in Arabic editing, which trained me in the strict formatting, context and formal templates that binding legal instruments demand. Medicine is another — growing up in a family of doctors, medical terminology was spoken around me constantly, and today I take daily video remote and over-the-phone interpreting calls for medical clients. And drawing on my career in energy, I translate oil and gas articles and corporate documentation, as well as software and mobile device manuals for clients in China, Hong Kong and India.
Q: You do both translation and simultaneous interpreting. Which do you prefer?
I love translation, but interpreting feels like meeting the monster at the end of the game! When you translate every day, an extensive mental glossary builds up in your mind automatically. When you step into an interpreting assignment, you put all of those skills to work in real time, right on the spot. Some people find simultaneous interpreting stressful, but I find it exciting — it feels like using every single cell of my brain.
Q: Why do credentials like Chartered status and ISO 17100 matter so much?
Being certified by bodies like the Chartered Institute of Linguists and holding ISO 17100 certification adds real credibility and validation to my work. The CIOL thoroughly reviews your qualifications, certificates and client references, and only awards Chartered status once you’ve documented your continuous professional development over time. It shows agencies and clients that you aren’t just doing random translations — there’s a verified, professional standard behind every document you deliver.
Q: You won ProZ’s 31st Translation Contest. What was that like?
The theme was “A Translator’s Life”. I entered on a whim — I’d never taken part in a translation contest before — so I was thrilled to find out I’d won first place in the English–Arabic category on my very first try. Whenever you love what you do, you give the best of yourself to it. I never just send off a document; I always make sure I’m delivering the highest quality I can.
Q: Why is precision so critical in medical and public service settings?
In medicine, faithful interpretation can genuinely be a matter of life or death. When you’re explaining pre-procedure guidelines or surgical instructions to a patient, a single miscommunicated instruction can lead to serious complications. And with sensitive assignments — cases involving children, legal disputes or personal medical care — agencies need to verify an interpreter’s identity, character and background, so that safety, confidentiality and trust are never in doubt.
Q: How do you handle regional variation across the Arabic-speaking world?
For formal translation we use Modern Standard Arabic, which is understood across every Arab nation. But context and audience still matter. In marketing and consumer content, the words for everyday items — even something as simple as “mobile phone” — differ between, say, Egypt and the UAE, so we localise the phrasing to feel natural to the reader. Legal Arabic is the opposite: it calls for strict, highly formal terminology and standardised, country-specific templates to make sure a document is enforceable.
Q: Do you work in languages beyond English and Arabic?
Personally, I translate and interpret strictly between English and Arabic. But I also coordinate a network of vetted native Egyptian linguists, and together we handle translations from Italian, German, Spanish, Russian and Chinese into Arabic.
Where It All Began
“When I was young, my dad used to make us translate every word from English to Arabic, because we were at language schools. He always told me I was translating better than my mum!”
— Huda
Dr. Huda Al-Hussain — English–Arabic Linguist
21 years of English–Arabic translation and simultaneous interpreting, with a love for getting every word exactly right.
© 2026 Cuppa with Huda. All rights reserved.
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