MISSOULA, Mont. -- Mandarin Chinese is a language far beyond the understanding of most Americans. But in the halls of Montana high schools, a growing number of students from one of the most rural of states are immersed in the language.

"It's difficult but it's a lot of fun," says freshman Jed Syreene. He's not the only one intrigued with Mandarin Chinese. "There is so much subtlety to it. It's so different than English and just pronunciation and the words. You have more of a tone inflection and it changes the whole style,” explains senior Graham Serviss.

The class Syreene and Serviss are taking is part of a program sponsored by the Chinese Government and the University of Montana. It's designed to introduce students to international diversity in a shrinking world.

Language coordinator Michal Malouf thinks the program connects Montana students in a very real way. "It's helping them connect with real people from China. To understand them as people first and then as a country second."

Serviss is a senior at Hellgate. He sees the Mandarin language class as a once in a life time opportunity and he's taking full advantage of it. "It helps with your language skills," says Serviss. "It helps you to expand and realize that English isn't the only language out there."

Students in Billings, Helena and Bozeman, may be far from the class room, but they're signing on too. The Mandarin class is available online.

Zhu Xiaohua, one of four instructors, tells us she's impressed with students. "Students here are so smart and they're learning so fast," says Zhu. "It seems that to them Chinese is not that difficult."

The language can be a challenge, but for students we interviewed for this article, it's an opportunity to become better global citizens.

Mandarin is also taught at Sentinel and Big Sky High Schools.