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English, 21.03.2021 21:20 Nalolivares

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TOKYO, Japan. The Nintendo DS isn't just fun and games anymore for students at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girls junior high school. The portable video game console is now being used as a teaching tool in English classes. Using the DS is a break from traditional Japanese academic methods, and the response has been varied among teachers. Among students, however, the DS is getting high marks.

"It's fun," said Chigusa Matsumoto, a seventh-grader at Joshi Gakuen. "You can study while you have fun."

Like many other Japanese youngsters, Matsumoto has the DS at home and plays DS games like "Mario Kart." Yet, she insists that she likes her English language software the best.

The classroom game is a sort of high-tech spelling bee. Matsumoto's class uses plastic pens to spell words like "hamburger" and "cola" on the DS's touch screen, following an electronic voice from the machine. When a student gets the spelling right, the word "good" pops up on the screen. Then, the software goes on to the next word. The first five students to complete the drills are awarded colorful stickers.

Spelling drills are nothing new for Japanese students who are studying English. However, doing the drills on the DS certainly is. In Japanese schools, English instruction usually focuses on memorization and grammar. Video game consoles have never been used in the Japanese classroom before.

"This is quite revolutionary for a Japanese schoolroom," said Yasuhiro Yamamoto, whose software company made the DS English program.

The DS is part of a course that helps Japanese students learn English. The course includes videos of an American ordering at a fast-food restaurant, as well as audio that students listen to on headphones and then repeat. The DS helps students build English vocabulary. It's a natural fit for the DS; the console already boasts brainteaser and puzzle software designed to improve math and other academic skills.

Even so, many teachers are uncertain about using the DS in the classroom. Tsuneo Saneyoshi, principal of Joshi Gakuen, said that views about the initiative have been mixed among teachers. Teachers are more accustomed to keeping distractions out of classrooms, not welcoming them.

"Some teachers aren't quite convinced this is good," Saneyoshi said.

However, other school officials have a number of reasons to be pleased. For Joshi Gakuen, the program was more or less free. Kyoto-based Nintendo Company sent the school 40 DS machines and free software for agreeing to test the DS in the classroom.

The school's vice-principal, Junko Tatsumi, was won over.

"There was no opposition from the parents," Tatsumi said. "It wasn't that difficult a decision for us. We thought it was a great idea."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Write a letter to your school principal. Explain the benefits of using the Nintendo DS in classrooms and encourage the principal to try it in your school. Be sure to address any concerns that the principal may have.

Support your point of view with details from the article and ideas of your own.

please write more than 500 words.

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