About Cultural Bridges. Receiving bilingual education in English and Arabic throughout my schooling exposed me from a very early age to the similarities and differences between these two languages. Perhaps this is why translation has always come naturally to me. As an adult, my passion for languages grew, and I went on to learn French, Dutch and Bosnian.

I started freelancing after I obtained a BA in English and Comparative Literature from the American University in Cairo. I followed the BA with an MA in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. After that, I went on and took courses in conference interpreting, the most recent of which was at the London Metropolitan University.

I am a sworn translator and interpreter for the Dutch<>Arabic and Dutch<>English language pairs at the district court in The Hague, the Netherlands. I am also certified in Egypt in the language pairs English-Arabic and Arabic-English.

Over the past 15 years, I have offered translation and interpreting services to a wide range of clients, ranging from individuals to international organisations like the World Bank, the United Nations Refugees Agency and the Red Cross.

As the head translator and interpreter at Cultural Bridges, it's vital to continue with my professional development and to keep abreast of developments in the worlds of translation and interpreting. For these reasons, I belong to the following professional bodies, all acknowledged institutions in their fields:

• Chartered Institute of Linguists (IoL), United Kingdom
• Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), United Kingdom
• Egyptian Translators Association (EGYTA), Egypt
• The Netherlands Society for Interpreters and Translators (NGTV ), The Netherlands
• Stichting Vrouwennetwerk Vertalers en Tolken (SVVT), The Netherlands
• Mediterranean Editors and Translators Association

Cultural Bridges cooperates with a select group of professional translators for the purpose of proofreading or sharing the load of large assignments.

Cultural Bridges is a small company that offers a personalised service. We look forward to welcoming you as one of our valued customers.

Maha El-Metwally
Founder