Learning Russian versus Mongolian for visiting Mongolia
I'm planning on visiting Mongolia. I'll probably hire a tour guide for the trip, not only because of the language barrier but also so I'm not travelling solo, and so I can gain local knowledge.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning Russian versus learning Mongolian for visiting Mongolia? In particular, how well is Russian spoken by non-English-speaking Mongolians, and do they have a dislike of Russian-speakers?
I'm currently leaning towards Mongolian, as I learn languages to be liked as well as to communicate, but it's a decidedly hipster language with little in the way of learning materials, whereas there is a larger amount of learning materials for Russian, and I assume Russian is a useful language in a number of different countries.
Best Answer
I'm from Mongolia. We don't speak Russian. Our 40 or 50 year olds may know some Russian. Currently schools don't teach Russian. So its already forgotten.
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Is Russian useful in Mongolia?
Russian still is a very useful language to establish connections and make friends with the people who are running the show in Mongolia, as those generations from 60s to 80s are in decision-making positions in the government and business sectors.Is Mongolia language hard to learn?
As I've mentioned before, foreigners have found Mongolian language hard to learn because the learning sources are really rare unless you're in Mongolia. Also the main basics of the grammar and the general accent are so different from most of the other languages.Is Russian similar to Mongolian?
No, Mongolians do not speak Chinese or Russian as an official language and the people who speak either one of those languages are in the minority. The Mongolian language is also very different from Chinese and Russian, so it does not share any similarity with either of those languages.Are Russian and Mongolian languages similar?
While most languages that use the cyrillic alphabet is somewhat related to each other and a derivative of a root language, the Mongolian language itself again has a different root and a different origin from the Slavic languages.Do Mongolian and Russian sound similar? Asian (ME) speaking in Russian.
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Answer 2
There are several textbooks of Mongolian for foreigners. Have you tried "Modern Mongolian: A Course Book" by Dr John Gaunt? It's very straightforward, pronunciation of every letter is compared to a similar sound of English words and the grammar explained clearly, not in complicated ways as some other books do. Sometimes they sell copies with audio tapes included. You can buy an e-book version from internet. Regarding Russian spoken in Mongolia Tom is right.
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