Kyoto Introduces DS English Training To Classrooms

According to a new report from Japan, the introduction of Nintendo DS English training software to classrooms in Kyoto has seen student vocabulary increase between 35 and 40 percent over five months. The report from Japan's Mainichi Daily News says that Kyoto's Yawata Municipal Board of Education gave Nintendo DSs and copies of the retail title Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS to junior high second-year English classes citywide on Monday following an earlier trial run. The experiment gave 49 students the software and added it into the daily routine, with 10 minutes of Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS play before traditional class lessons. According to the report, the trial was noted as a success. While students are expected to know 1300 English words for a standard level three proficiency test, over the course of the trial one group of 24 students saw their vocabulary rise to an average 1386 words, and the other 25 saw theirs grow to an average 1436 words. That level of proficiency is held by only 30 percent of junior high school students, according to a professor quoted in the report.