Our guest speaker Maria holds a B.A. in Comparative Culture from Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan) and an M.A. in Applied Cultural Analysis from Lund University (Lund, Sweden). She also obtained a certification as Intercultural Coach from interculture.de e.V. in conjunction with Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Jena, Germany). Maria Deutsch has been working in intercultural settings, particularly Japanese-German settings, for over twenty years. As an interpreter and intercultural consultant, she supports particularly small and medium-sized enterprises from the manufacturing sector in their communication with German or Japanese counterparts and team members from the respective other country. From 2020 until 2022, Maria was involved even more closely in German-Japanese relationship building, as she worked as a DJW (Japanese-German Business Association) team member.

Maria Deutsch shared her intercultural educational and professional experiences with eleven graduate students attending Dr. Schlunze’s Special Lecture on June 26, 2025.  After her speech the students interviewed her about a) her intercultural experience, b) working experience in the team at the DJW office Duesseldorf.

a) LI Shiru found that Maria began learning Japanese at a young age out of interest in other cultures. Her approach shows that curiosity and consistent vocabulary study are key to language learning. LIN Fangfei found that she has extensive intercultural communication experience and maintains a strong sense of cultural sensitivity, allowing her to recognize differences between cultures and identify potential sources of conflict. Moreover, Maria has rich experience in resolving conflicts that arise in intercultural communication and has developed a relatively complete and mature set of strategies for addressing such issues. She also possesses strong capabilities in leading intercultural organizations and can unite members of the organization by employing appropriate methods.

b) KUBOTA Tomoro asking about the teamwork found that it was critical for the success of the co- leaders that the entire team to share the mindset of wanting to achieve goals together. She found that to instill a sense of purpose in all team members it is most crucial for the leader to have repeated discussions with the members. SHIKATA Towa became aware that it is important to tell others what you mean when you act or speak. If your intention is clear, people can understand that you are working toward the same goal, and you can work together better. MARINESCU Bendis found it was especially insightful to learn how Maria emphasized the role of individual personality and everyday circumstances in communication challenges. Her explanations suggested that effective intercultural work is not just about understanding national cultures, but also about being adaptable, empathetic, and aware of human complexity.

ZHANG Quyang (Emily) concluded that Maria’s experiences highlight the crucial role that cognition of cultural differences plays in shaping behavior and team dynamics in multicultural teams. Her examples emphasize how lack of mutual cultural understanding initially leads to misinterpretation, tension, and inefficiency, but also how increased awareness and adjustment can lead to better cooperation. It also shows that cultural cognition is not passive, it's a skill that develops through direct interaction, reflection, and open-mindedness. Interpreters or culturally competent mediators like Maria play a vital role in bridging gaps and facilitating cultural decoding. What’s more, successful multicultural teamwork depends not only on professional skills but also on the willingness to understand and adapt to others’ perspectives.

Gioia WANG Xuesong was impressed by her proactive attitude actively trying to understand the deeper cultural logic behind certain behaviors. She concluded that cultural adjustment is not about “getting it right” immediately, but about staying open and respectful, and gradually building the ability to navigate between different ways of thinking and interacting.