How to study Mongolian for traveling [Learning a minor language].
Hi there, it's Minami.
If you are going to travel to Mongolia, if you have Mongolian friends or acquaintances and would like to study Mongolian, if you are a Sumo fan and support Mongolian people, or if you would like to try studying Mongolian at university but before that, you may want to try it yourself.
I believe that there are many people who are trying to learn Mongolian for various reasons.
This time, I only stayed for a few days to look around, but I studied for about a week (?) in my own way. I hope this article will be of some help to someone.
Table of Contents
English is not widely spoken in Mongolia. However...
My firsthand experience is that even in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, there were almost no cases where English was spoken, including at convenience stores.
(There are people who can get through to you if you speak one language.)
I think that if you can understand some basic Mongolian, you will be able to enjoy your stay at the travel level more, and you will be able to avoid stress and anxiety.
Also, it would be very nice to be able to read the signage, even if it is only in Mongolian, since most of the signs are written in the Cyrillic alphabet (the same alphabet used in Russian and other languages) and there is no English notation.
My Background
First, let me briefly introduce my background.
I had studied Russian to an intermediate level, so in a sense, I may not have been a beginner in Mongolian.
So the letters could be read in Cyrillic.
*Mongolian grammar and vocabulary are different from Russian, so I did not have an advantage in those areas (there are a few things that are predictable, but most general words are different between Mongolian and Russian).
But other than that, my knowledge of Mongolian is almost zero.
I like the A Bride's Story . (That one is Kazakh, though.)
Books and teaching materials used
application
Google Translate
I can use Google Translate to translate various languages of the world, including minor languages, on the spot.
Mongolian is also available as an example.
You can DL it offline beforehand before you go, or DL it where there is wifi, so you don't have to worry about not having internet there (if you go to the grasslands, you should expect no internet unless you are in a basic tourist camp).
Of course, it can be used in "Japanese⇔Mongolian" pairs,
I think the accuracy will be better if the language setting is used in "English⇔Mongolian" pairs.
(or other languages from countries that use a language family as close as possible to Mongolian as a language pair).
When using the translation function in a sentence, it would be better to pair the language with English to get a more correct Mongolian translation.
(The important thing is to put the "subject" and other words that are often omitted in Japanese into the translation application and apply it to the translation without omitting them!)
language book
New Express Plus Mongolian
No, it's almost the only choice nowadays.
The best part is the security of being able to learn Mongolian with it, while it is almost the only book that is currently readily available for purchase.
And because it is thin, it is lightweight and easy to carry to the site!
I think the book is packed with many essentials for language learning.
The disadvantage is that there are not many exercises and no explanations for the problems, although this cannot be helped.
But if you want to use it for a short stay, it is totally sufficient. In fact, it's better than nothing at all!
(By the way, I only stayed for a short time and studied for a short time, so I could only study up to about 3 chapters, but it was very useful! I was able to look up most of the things I needed to know when I was in trouble. (By the way, I only stayed for a short time plus a little time to study, so I was able to look up most of the things I needed to know.)
I also appreciate that there is an index of words in the back so that when I have trouble with a conversation, I can quickly check it as if it were a dictionary.
I wish I had the Google Translate app, but sometimes I don't want to consume too much of my phone's battery.
However, the vocabulary is designed to be studied at a Japanese university, so most conversation examples are in the form of Japanese students studying Mongolian.
I did not fall into this category, but I still think it helped a lot.
Travel finger-pointing conversation book 16 Mongolia (Mongolian)
The rest was very helpful as well.
After all, this is a "traveler's" finger-pointing conversation book!
There is also a Kindle version, so if you buy the electronic version, it's less bulky.
(I bought mine in electronic format and took it with me)
However, the original intention of the book, "pointing" and conversing
was that they would only do it if they really had the time to do it.
Basically, I think it is common for people to teach through non-verbal communication (gestures, etc.), such as by pointing to themselves.
Mongolian related Youtube
If you don't have time to do anything more than just listen to the video, you may want to check out the following! If so, the following is also a good idea.
Mongolian subtitles on movies on airplanes and Mongolian in language settings
When you are on an airplane, it is a great opportunity to learn Mongolian.
I noted the Mongolian I saw in the airplane and wrote in my notebook and used the Google Translate app to translate and study.
For example, I can remember "Movies," "Classical Music," "Start," and "Back," which are commonly found in the in-flight screen menu!
Cultural Materials
Language is part of culture. If you don't understand the culture, you sometimes don't understand the sting of the language. Like proverbs.
If you use the same sense and usage as in Japan, you may not understand the Japanese. Please, by all means, input your cultural information as well. It will bring you closer to Mongolia!
[Chit-chat] Young Mongolians use the English alphabet for installations, not the Cyrillic alphabet!
I have noticed that young Mongolians use the English alphabet for their installations, not the Cyrillic alphabet.
The official announcements of some company or agent, such as announcements, are in Cyrillic, but in installations, young people communicate mainly in Mongolian with the English alphabet. (I felt)
Of course, this would also depend on the age group.
Facebook posts, for example, are often relatively older, and many people seem to use Cyrillic characters in such cases.
Things I wish I had like this
The following is a list of materials and videos that I thought might help you learn Mongolian more effectively.
Word Listening Video
I can't find any word listening videos in Mongolian.
Someone please make it.
And by the way, this is the kind of word-listening video I love to use (laughs).
（It would be nice to see (more) Mongolian language video system in Japan.
It would be nice to see Mongolian-language video works in Japan, but it seems that there are almost no works at the international level?
I tried looking for it in Amazon Prime and other places, but found almost nothing.
(If you know of any good ones here too, please let me know!)
VIVANT is already there! I haven't watched it because I don't have a U-NEXT subscription yet, but I'm going to take the time to sign up for a batch and watch it next time!
I don't use it, but if you want to study it more in depth.
If you are not using it but want to study it more in depth, the following books are also very good.
It is much easier to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words in English just by understanding their etymology!
(Bi in "binary" means "a set of" and you'll know what other "bi" words mean, etc.)
Conclusion
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Hope this article helps someone.
About other articles related to Mongolia, please see byClicking herePlease check back from (I am planning to add more about this in the future)
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