María Santamaría Díaz

María Santamaría Díaz was born in Spain in 2000. Ever since her school days, María has been specially drawn to learning about the literature and culture from all over the globe. This interest was cultivated by joining extracurricular activities like language courses, sports and art classes, and some stays abroad.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpretation from Universidad Complutense de Madrid after four years of study, one of which was spent as an exchange student at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, in Germany. The undergraduate curriculum included Spanish, English and German as the main working languages, as well as the study of the different cultures in Spanish, English and German-speaking countries. Additionally, she grew extremely curious about children literature over the years and ended up writing her BA thesis about the Spanish translation of Shrek, heavily influenced by traditional fairytales, and its adaptation for hearing-impaired kids.

These four years also included multiple cultural activities and elective courses, from which the ones offered by the China Cultural Center and GISEC are of vital importance in her personal and working trajectory.
María combined her undergraduate studies with various internships as translator and editor for the Education Ministry of the Spanish Government, as translator for an NGO, and as community manager for a literary shop. Moreover, she kept learning Chinese and Spanish Sign Language, and had a voluntary job as a leisure instructor and educator.

Currently, she is working as an Au-Pair in Germany, which allows her to continue her independent studies and better her German communication skills while also leaving her some time to explore the country and its cultural mélange.

Her main specialty areas are:
• Spanish and world literature
• Intercultural communication
• Children education and literature
• Education of children with disabilities
• Social media management