Janet has a Ph.D. in Romance Linguistics (French and Spanish) from the University of California Berkeley, two advanced degrees in foreign language pedagogy from NYU and McGill University, and a B.A. in linguistics from the Université de Montréal. For 16 years she directed and co-directed the Spanish language program at the University of Chicago, and has over 25 years of experience teaching all levels of Spanish, French and ESL at both the college and high school levels.

Janet is also a soul/jazz singer, songwriter and flutist and gigs regularly in the Chicago area.