Environmental engineering junior Milea Franklin has always been interested in Asian culture. So when the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology offered an introductory Japanese class this spring, Franklin just had to take it.

"I find their festivals and the traditional dress that they wear very interesting, and I wanted to know why," Franklin said. "I wanted to know more about their stories, their myths, their legends."

On Tuesday evenings for the past two months, Franklin has joined other School of Mines students, faculty and community members to learn about the Japanese culture and language. Satomi Hayashi, a National American University graduate who works in the Student Activities and Leadership Center at the School of Mines, is the instructor.

Hayashi has taught workshops on many Japanese cultural topics, has tutored the language privately and has served as an interpreter.

"Satomi is leaving at the end of May, so we knew that we had a limited window of opportunity to do this," said Nancy Anderson-Smith, Director of Educational Programs and Professional Conferences at the School of Mines.

DJ Kjar, a graduate student at the School of Mines, said his favorite part of the class is attempting to say the words.

"Much like when a Japanese person has a hard time saying a word in English, it is the same for me in Japanese," Kjar said. "Pronouncing some the words correctly is very difficult, but I enjoy the challenge." Everyone in the class is excited about Japanese culture and language in some form or another.

"I am hoping that we form friendships where we will keep each other learning the language," Kjar said. "I find the easiest way to learn a language is to be forced to speak it all the time."

The class was created in an effort to increase cultural understanding and global awareness in the community. A lot of different cultures are represented on the School of Mines campus, and school leaders want to have those cultures reach out to the community, Anderson-Smith said.

"It is important to learn other cultures and other ideas, especially for engineers and scientists," Franklin said. "It is important to have a better cultural understanding to work with others, to get along with others, and just to understand others."