The World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages define the central role of world languages in the learning career of every student. The five goal areas of the Standards establish an inextricable link between communication and culture, which is applied in making connections and comparisons and in using this competence to be part of local and global communities. The World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages create a roadmap to guide learners to develop competence to communicate effectively and interact with cultural competence to participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world. The World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages create a roadmap to guide learners to develop competence to communicate effectively and interact with cultural understanding. "World-Readiness" signals that the Standards have been revised with important changes to focus on the literacy developed and the real-world applications. Learners who add another language and culture to their preparation are not only college- and career-ready, but are also "world-ready" -- that is, prepared to add the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to their résumés for entering postsecondary study or a career. These Standards are equally applicable to: learners at all levels, from pre-kindergarten through postsecondary levels; native speakers and heritage speakers, including ESL students; American Sign Language; Classical Languages (Latin and Greek) - Publisher.