ABSTRACT
The five C's-Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities-stated in the new Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Pre paring for the 21st Century (1998) do not require a major change in foreign lan guage teaching; after all, foreign language teachers wrote them! The standards are, however, a good reminder to construct lessons to include all five areas as of ten as possible. They also reflect a shift in what the public wants of us: commu nication has moved to the forefront. Parents want their children to be comfort able communicating in the language, knowing how, when and why to say what to whom, rather than simply knowing how to read and write.
