Goal: Write an opinion text.
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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's essay
Oyuunaa has given our class a piece of homework I have never done in any language: a one-page opinion essay. The question: should foreigners who come to Mongolia learn Mongolian?
I sat at the computer all evening. My ideas were good, but they came out in a heap. Nomin read my first draft and laughed: "You have three arguments and no firstly, secondly, finally."
So I started again, this time with a plan.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| эссэ | essay |
| сэдэв | topic, subject |
| санал | opinion, view |
| шалтгаан | reason |
| нэгдүгээрт | firstly |
| хоёрдугаарт | secondly |
| гуравдугаарт | thirdly |
| эцэст нь | finally, in the end |
| жишээлбэл | for example |
| дүгнэх | to conclude, to sum up |
| дүгнэлт | conclusion |
| түлхүүр | key |
| ярилцах | to talk together, to have a conversation |
| таалагдах | to please, to be liked (-д таалагдах: X likes it) |
Oyuunaa's model essay has three parts: an opening where you give your view, the arguments one by one, and a conclusion (дүгнэлт). Each part has its own signpost words, and a Mongolian reader expects to see them.
| Part of the essay | Signpost words |
|---|---|
| your view | Миний бодлоор… ; … гэж би бодож байна |
| the arguments, in order | нэгдүгээрт, хоёрдугаарт, гуравдугаарт |
| an example | жишээлбэл |
| one more point | түүнчлэн, мөн (lesson 148) |
| both sides | нэг талаас … нөгөө талаас |
| the conclusion | эцэст нь ; дүгнэж хэлэхэд |
нэгдүгээрт is the ordinal нэгдүгээр (first, lesson 57) with the dative-locative –т: literally "in the first place". The others follow the same pattern, and the ordinal ending keeps its harmony: нэгдүгээрт, хоёрдугаарт, гуравдугаарт, дөрөвдүгээрт. Put a comma after the signpost.
нэг талаас … нөгөө талаас means "from one side … from the other side". Use it to show that you have weighed both sides before you decide.
эцэст нь is "at the end" and introduces your last point or your conclusion. дүгнэж хэлэхэд, literally "when speaking in summary", announces the conclusion itself, like English "to sum up".
An essay is not a chat. Leave out the particles of conversation, шүү дээ, даа, биз дээ, and the bare imperative. A short definition is written with бол, and an example follows its signpost:
State your view once, clearly, and let the signposts carry the reader from one argument to the next.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian numbers and ordinals · Mongolian word order
On a computer, Mongolian Cyrillic has its own keyboard layout, with separate keys for ө and ү. Never replace them with look-alike letters from another alphabet: the text may look right on screen, but nobody will find it with a search, and spell-checkers will mark every word.
A Mongolian essay title is often a question, like Limba's. Answer it in your first paragraph, so that the reader knows from the start which side you are on.
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 179 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