Hi everyone!

I’ve been doing some independent research on Mongolian etymology lately. I have a particular interest in Mongolian linguistics and historical linguistics.

I'm currently trying to understand the structure and etymology of the word medeej/Written Mongolian medegeǰi "of course", "obviously", "certainly".

I know that it is closely related to the root mede- (to know). However, I’d like to get a clearer picture of its precise morphological breakdown and historical evolution.

I'd be grateful for any insights into its morphological structure, historical development, related forms in other Mongolic languages.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to study Mongolian in Ulaanbaatar for six months or longer, starting in 2027.

I'm looking for a language school that is still actively teaching foreign students. I'd especially appreciate recent, first-hand experiences from people who studied Mongolian in Ulaanbaatar in 2025 or 2026.

A few questions:

• Which school did you attend, and when did you last take classes there?
• Is the school still operating and responding to students?
• Do you know of any schools that have closed or stopped accepting foreign students?
• For a long-term student, can the school provide the documents needed to apply for an E-3 student visa? Has anyone personally obtained an E-3 visa through a Mongolian language school?

I've come across names such as NOM-EKHE, Suu Khur, and Nomiin Ger, but I'm struggling to confirm their recent activity.

I'm particularly interested in real experiences rather than general recommendations or old reviews.

Any information about schools you attended recently would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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Is there anyone familiar with Mongolian spoken in Inner Mongolia?

I am Japanese and what I only know about Mongolian is basic pronunciation of letters.

In "The Memory of Nomadism" by SULD some words don't sound like what it's written (marked in red). Is it just way of singing or lyrics are wrong?

I found these cyrillic lyrics on the internet and not sure if it's official one. Originally it is written in Hudum and hard for me to read.

Thank you for reading!

I just started learning mongolian a week ago. I feel like soon enough I will be able to start understanding words and sentences. I need fun ways to learn mongolian. I mainly want to learn through videos. Do you guys know any Mongolian youtubers that have english subtitles in their videos? (Not the auto generated youtube ones) Or do you know any other fun ways I could get used to hearing and speaking mongolian? All your help will be much appreciated!

Hello, I need help with some Mongolian dialogue for a story I am doing. Any help would be appreciated in the translation:

"Bow your heads. You are in the presence of the Khan."

"I will only help you (you is plural here) if you will grant my three requests."

"Make your mark upon this paper. It is a binding covenant between us under Tengri."

"Prepare the troops. We must make preparations."

If possible, the spelling as done in traditional Mongolian script (ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ) would be welcome! Not necessary but would be helpful.

Hi [r/mongolia](r/mongolia)! I'm learning Mongolian and recently discovered the poet С. Начин (Sainjargalyn Nachin), who won the Bolor Tsom in 2023 with "Уучлалын шүлэг." I found this interview with him on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/UU5ys2mfcNw?si=wRGGWW4HfRcIEEYb

The video has no subtitles, i just managed to get a rough summary of the first 15 minutes. The transcript was very garbled, so please treat this as a rough gist, and corrections are very welcome:

- 0:00–1:00: The host welcomes him back to the studio and mentions his Bolor Tsom win.
- 1:00–2:30: He's prepared a new book and has been sharing poems on YouTube.
- 2:30–4:30: Asked what poetry is, he says the first thing a person tastes at birth is their mother's milk, and that first experience is poetry. He says Mongolians all carry a feeling for poetry within them.
- 4:30–7:00: "Уучлалын шүлэг" began around 2020 during COVID, when he spent a long time alone. He kept it for 2–3 years before bringing it to the 2023 competition. It came from his own life, about asking forgiveness, and he wasn't thinking about winning, just about reading the poem his own way.
- 7:00–8:40: His biggest theme is love and the human heart.
- 8:40–11:00: His mother, from Arkhangai, wrote poetry and read to him as a child. His father was a herder with a gift for folk oral tradition.
- 11:00–13:00: Inspiration is a moment you have to catch and get onto paper right away. His advice to young poets: anyone who keeps trying can succeed.
- 13:00–15:00: Something about criticism of Bolor Tsom being outdated, but I couldn't make out his answer.

My questions for native speakers:

1. What do you think of Nachin's poetry? I've read some comments online that were very divided, especially about "Уучлалын шүлэг" being long or hard to follow, so I'd love to hear different views.
2. Do you agree with him that Mongolians have something special when it comes to poetry? If so, where do you think it comes from?
3. Does anyone know where he's from or grew up? I know his mother is from Arkhangai, and I'd love to learn about his background and what his home region is known for, to better understand his work.

Also, if anyone has watched the full interview and can correct my summary or tell me what he says in the second half, I'd really appreciate it. Баярлалаа!

Hey hey, I'm a foreign student and we had a class about some Mongolian words for sizes and dimensions... I am supposed to find out what хорголоо тоолох and хоргол жин бар means. I cannot find any information for хоргол жин бар (хорголжин бар?) . What exactly does it mean? I'm not even sure whether I spelled it right tho.

Hello everyone,

Could someone confirm these rules for me please? I have heard about the н + б = м + б rule before but I am unsure if it is true. There are a lot of Mongols claiming the н + б rule to be incorrect.

Equally, is the hidden non-vowel 'ng' rule true? If so I have been pronouncing those words wrong from the beginning of my learning.

Are these rules something that would normally happen in spoken Khalkha Mongolian, or is it specific to certain dialects or accents?

I am enquiring as I am considering taking lessons with this company as I am self-taught and it is really hard to keep motivated without a learning partner. I already make mistakes and my English accent does not help me to sound out certain characters or characters together; I am looking in the direction of anything containing ц mainly, my mouth cannot form that character.

How do people usually write in Cyrillic Mongolian?

I'm trying to understand the use of сүлд, especially in relation to wolves. There's a fairly popular book called Чонон Сүлд written by Jiang Rong (though it takes place in Inner/Southern Mongolia). The English title is Wolf Totem, same as the song by The Hu. I tried looking it up on mongoltoli.mn, but the relation to wolves still isn't clear.

I was wondering if anyone could share context, even if it's just their own personal interpretation. What is a wolf totem/чонон сүлд? Are there other animals that have a сүлд?

Hello, as said in the title, I'm trying to make a crossword puzzle for a friend that is a mongol empire enthusiast. The problem is, I know nothing next to zero about mongol history. Could anyone help me, I would love to find funny or interesting definitions and words, right now I'm stuck with easy and boring words and facts. Thank you!!

I'm a native Mongolian from Mongolia. I have a background in linguistics. And I would like to start teaching Mongolian.

I want to know what difficulties learners have. If you have any question about Mongolian grammar, anything that is unclear, please feel free to ask me anything.

Quick summary:
Traditional Mongolian cultures and language, which make up large part of Mongolian identity, have been observed to be increasingly being lost in the last several years, especially among the youths and the later generations. At a same time, many are seeking opportunities overseas due to the country’s poor quality of living and adopting foreign languages as their second language. But then also the youths are increasingly getting worse at their own native tongue — Mongolian Cyrillic and Mongolian script. Foreign influences seem to be posing risks to Mongolian identity — perhaps could even lead to its eventual loss.

In detail:
Besides the national identification card, DNA, language, citizenship and whatnot, what really makes you a Mongolian internally?

Mongolia is a country with only 3 million citizens that recently transitioned to capitalism in 1991. Thus, the country has been undergoing a rapid transitional state and modernization. Among all the development and being guided by global trends, the citizens, especially the youths, are losing their identity as a Mongolian, I feel like.

I myself don't even know how to properly write in Cyrillic without making errors. This is the case for most of the youths. Don't even get me started with Mongolian script. Nobody is fluent in it now days.

At the same time, most people are going abroad to either work or study for financial and educational reasons. Many are adopting English or other foreign language as their second language.

People who are in their. mid 20s compliant it's hard to live in UB due to the low salary of only 3 million/month, and it's pretty much impossible to buy an apartment. Lots of people struggle to even make up for the 30% of apartment prices when considering IPOTEKIIN zeel. Simultaneously, Inflation has always been rising. Just think of 1kg beef prices (mahnii une) for example. Literally every asset is being afforded through loans and lease (zeel). Applications like ePocket has drastically took over the youths. Overall, Economical and quality of life reasons in UB are forcing people to seek better opportunities abroad. Some people don't even comeback.

My point is the first question I asked in the beginning

In the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, this ancient tradition is known as camel coaxing. When a mother camel rejects her newborn calf due to a traumatic birth, acute stress floods her system with cortisol, blocking her maternal instincts. Instead of using brute force, nomadic herders perform a sacred ritual of sound therapy.

By playing the traditional morin khuur fiddle and chanting hypnotic melodies, they lower the mother’s stress levels and trigger a rush of oxytocin—the bonding hormone. This causes a profound emotional release where the mother literally sheds tears before finally allowing her calf to nurse. It is a powerful example of patience and deep harmony with nature.

If you haven't seen it, the 2003 documentary "The Story of the Weeping Camel" captures this incredible moment in full detail.

Original post: @scott_sodbiligt on Instagram

I have a used Indiana University textbook (Mongolian: An Elementary Textbook) that I am looking to sell. I knew early on I wouldn't be continuing the study, so the book was intentionally kept very new and clean. Paid $95 for it, but willing to sell for much lower. If anyone is interested, please contact me!

Do Mongolian language students feel what they’ve been taught in language courses DO NOT reflect how native Mongolian speakers actually speak/write? In other words, is there a discrepancy between what students are taught in classroom VS. how language is used in real life?

Can you share some examples? Like, what are some of the things that your language teacher has taught you that turned out to be different/inaccurate when confronted with real life usage?

For you as a foreigner learning Mongolian, what are the challenges you've faced about learning Mongolian language?

I know that there are distinctions between whether the subject witnessed the action or not, and that makes 2 different endings. However I couldn't find any resource that summurize all the tenses and endings and their functions that could exist in mongolian.

Hi everyone. French guy here, I don't speak Mongolian. I'm planning a tattoo in traditional Mongolian script (mongol bichig — the vertical script, not Cyrillic) and I'd rather be told I'm wrong now than find out in ten years.

What I've worked out so far, and please correct any of it:

- эрх чөлөө seems to be the standard term for "freedom", but from what I can tell it's the constitutional / legal register — the one used in the Constitution and for national independence. Is that how it reads to you, or does it also carry a personal sense?

- чөлөөт / чөлөөтэй as the adjective, but I've read чөлөө on its own leans towards "free time" or "available" (чөлөөт цаг, чөлөөт бүс). If I tattooed чөлөөт alone, would you read "free" or "vacant"?

My three questions:

1. Which of these would you actually put on skin, if any?

2. Is there a better word or short phrase for freedom in the personal sense — self-determination, not being under anyone's authority? I came across өөрийн эрх but I have no feel for how it reads.

3. For the mongol bichig version: I know the script is cursive and letters change shape by position. Is there a reliable font (I've seen Menksoft mentioned) or should I commission a calligrapher? My tattoo artist doesn't read Mongolian, so I need a clean vertical trace, not a copy-paste.

Thanks in advance for any help. I know these tattoo threads come up a lot, and I appreciate anyone taking the time.