Goal: Discuss history and culture.
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Now hear it and say it
This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepLimba gives a short talk
Today it is my turn to speak in front of Oyuunaa's class: five minutes about Mongolian history, in Mongolian. My hands are cold and my notes are full of crossings-out.
I talk about the Xiongnu, Chinggis Khaan, the vertical script, the monasteries and the ovoos. When I finish, my classmates clap and start asking questions.
Two weeks of museums, old books and stories by the fire end with a small victory: I understand every question, and I can answer most of them.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| илтгэл | talk, presentation |
| товч | brief; briefly |
| тал нутаг | the steppe, the steppe lands |
| Буддын шашин | Buddhism |
| шашинтай | having a religion (Буддын шашинтай: Buddhist) |
| эзэнт гүрэн | empire |
| байгуулах | to found, to establish |
| гаралтай | coming from (with the ablative) |
| уламжлал | tradition |
| хүндлэх | to respect |
| шүтэх | to worship |
| нураах | to demolish |
| нэгдэл | agricultural collective |
| Point | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a year, a century | онд, оны, зуунд, зууны | 1206 онд; XIII зууны дунд үед |
| a period, a decade | –ын үед, –аад он | Өгөдэй хааны үед; 1990-ээд онд |
| a script, an origin | –аар бичих, –аас гаралтай | монгол бичгээр; уйгур бичгээс гаралтай |
| abstract nouns | –л, –лт, –мж | хөгжил, шалгалт, зөвлөмж |
| a clause as subject | –х нь, –сан нь | Ахмадаа хүндлэх нь чухал. |
| customs, "when" | –даг, –хдаа | Сүмд орохдоо малгайгаа авдаг. |
| beliefs, care | гэж итгэдэг, миний мэдэхээр | Аз авчирна гэж итгэдэг. |
| written narrative | –жээ, –в, гэнэ, хэмээн | Тэр нөж атгаж төрсөн гэнэ. |
| then and now | –даг байсан, –даг болсон | Радио сонсдог байсан. |
Go deeper in the grammar guide: The four pasts · Complex sentences · Building new words
A five-minute talk in Mongolian is a real achievement. Two habits help. Write your notes as short sentences ending in a verb, because a Mongolian sentence only makes sense once you reach its last word. And prepare the dates aloud: reading 1206 онд or XIII зуунд fluently gives listeners confidence in everything else you say. Mongolian audiences are generous with a foreigner who tries; a classic compliment you may hear is Монголоор сайн ярьдаг юм байна!, "You speak Mongolian well!"
Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 160 is ticked on your course map.
Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.
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Lesson done? Train your ear
This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keep