TOKYO - THE Nintendo DS is not just for fun and games any more for English students at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girl junior high school.

The portable video game console is now being used as a key teaching tool, breaking with traditional Japanese academic methods.

It is a sort of high-tech spelling bee. When the students got the spelling right, the word 'good' popped up on the screen, and they went on to the next exercise. The first five students to complete the drills were awarded colourful stickers. 'It's fun,' said Chigusa Matsumoto, 12, who zipped through the drills to get her sticker. 'You can study while you have fun.'

Like many other Japanese youngsters, she has the DS at home and plays games like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. But she insisted her favourite is her English-class software.

The drills, which the school began using earlier this year, are the first linked to a widely used Japanese public-school textbook series, according to Mr Yasuhiro Yamamoto, manager at software maker Paon Corp, which wrote the DS English program. 'This is quite revolutionary for a Japanese classroom,' he said.

Japanese education has long been infamous for failing to develop English conversation skills and instead focusing on rote memorisation with little practical application.

The DS boasts a series of brain teasers and puzzle games designed to improve mathematics and other academic skills, as part of a larger effort at Kyoto-based Nintendo Co to appeal to newcomers, older people and women.

Teacher Motoko Okubo acknowledged that she had never before seen the kind of enthusiasm that her students displayed during the DS classes.

Principal Tsuneo Saneyoshi said views about the initiative were mixed among teachers more accustomed to keeping games and other distractions out of classrooms.

The school is getting 40 DS machines and free software for agreeing to be part of the trial run.

'Some teachers aren't quite convinced this is good,' said the principal, adding that the verdict is still out on the educational value of DS.

ASSOCIATED PRESS