Born and raised in Romania, Oana came to Japan to complete her studies. What was supposed to be a 5-year program has turned into 10 (and counting!) years of fulfilling experiences, a very important one of which is JALT. She received her BA degree in linguistics from Hiroshima University and MA degree in sociolinguistics and language education from Ritsumeikan University. After 6 years spent with Japanese students as her peers, she is now teaching them, which can sometimes be a very interesting undertaking. Oana’s research interests include project-based teaching, learner autonomy, and code-switching, as she frequently switches between English, Japanese, Romanian and Spanish herself. Among her hobbies, playing with her cat (and exchanging cat stories with other cat people), reading and watching movies, a bit of yoga and hiking, is all she has time for at the moment.
Her JALT background includes:

• Internal Examination Committee Chair, 2010
• Pan-SIG 2010 Treasurer, 2010
• Chapter Treasurer Liaison, 2008-2010
• Internal Auditor, 2009
• Kyoto Chapter Treasurer, 2007-2010
• Hiroshima Chapter Recording Secretary, 2004-2006