Words I learned in Mongolian

January 6, 2009 by Karin.

Travel guides always say that learning a few words in the local tongue goes a long way in warming up the locals. I’ve always been too shy for that but in Mongolia, not only was it easy to learn and use Mongolian, but it was often necessary!

Here is a list of words I learned during my two weeks in Mongolia:

Sain bain nuu (hello, how are you?)
Baiyarlaa (thank you)
Akh (older brother)
Ajil (job)
Jorlong (toilet)
Muur (horse)
Hun (sheep)
Yamaa (goat)
Ishik (baby goat)
Yemee (camel)
Os (water)
Choco Pie (Choco Pie)
Showerl (mortar)
Teny (your)
Hoorts (hammer)
Sheement (cement)
Scotch (scotch tape)
Chi (you)
Yawi (let’s go!)
Duu (younger sibling)
Kheden (when)
Supermarkt (supermarket)
Ger (yurt)
Nar (sun)
Sar (moon)
Khirtekh (eclipse)

Other expressions that regularly popped up were “how old are you”, “family?” and “how much?” (that was for drivers who acted as impromtu taxi drivers on the streets of Ulaanbaatar). These sentences were too complicated for me to retain so the Mongolian and I would take turns pointing out questions and answers from my phrasebook. Next time though, I will definitely take a Mongolian–>English dictionary with me.

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