Customer Reviews

Mongolian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I studied under Bat-Ireedui at the National University of Mongolia for 2 years. I eventually received a Masters Degree in Mongolian History He is a consumate professional. This book reads well and is done by a Mongolian, not a inner-Mongolian. He understands the nuances of the language. If your leaving for Mongolia, and you want some independence. Don't leave with out it.

Wherever you travel in the world, the Lonely Planet guides are the most helpful, the most lucid, and the most fun to read. After struggling with Mongolian-English dictionaries, this book was a breath of fresh air. Their phonetic transcriptions of the Cyrillic are by far the easiest and least technical that I've found. And on top of that it is convenient and pocket-sized!

I took this phrase book to Mongolia with me in the summer of 2001 and foud it to be extremely helpful. While there is a phrase section in Lonely Planet's main book on Mongolia (which I HIGHLY recommend as an essential if travelling to Mongolia), this book was much more comprehensive. I found it very useful when trying to communicate with our non-english speaking driver when out in the middle of the Gobi desert. Even if you are unable to pronounce the words correctly, you can at least show whoever you're trying to communicate with the word you are trying to say. Mongolia is a travel experience far different from anywhere else in the world. Communication is a vital part of making that experience more enriching. For that, I recommend this phrase book.

Lonely Planet always publishes great phrasebooks, and this one's no different. Luckily, they provide the original cyrillic script alongside of the phonetic transcriptions, so you can actually read things while inside the country (unlike their Central Asian phrasebook, which was entirely in phonetic transcription). I haven't been to Mongolia yet, but this book is definatly coming with me when I go! Its content is very similar to their Russian phrasebook, which I found extremely useful while in Russia.

In the past year I have spent 6 months in rural Mongolia. I had the Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia and The Lonely Planet Mongolian Phrasebook. First off, the Guide to Mongolia is excellent, my copy is basically falling to pieces I used it so much.
I was less pleased with the Phrasebook. I have some concerns about the pronunciation guide as given by other reviewers. The use of the "schwa" in Mongolian could be better described. I found the section on restaurants very poor. In the area where I was menus were in Mongolian only and the phrasebook was useless trying to decipher the menu.The phrasebook would be enhanced if the vocabulary list included a Mongolian-English section. If you come across a Mongolian word that you want to understand the phrasebook is not much use.
In its favour, the book is cheap, portable and is written in an easy style.

This little phrasebook is not too bad... however, in some of the places cyrillic text is missing (can be good to have).
Missing some of very basic words as for example "head", "face" and others.
Missing also some shorter explanation about the persian script that was used mostly before, but in lot of places even today.

But again... if you have no clue at all about Mongolian language, this little book is pretty good to have.

I went to Mongolia twice in the past year, and I live with a Mongolian woman full time who is a well educated journalist. If one had to rely on this book, one would be in serious trouble. First off, the phrase "sain bainuu?" which is used as "hello", if you pronounced it the way this book says, you would be way off, and no one would be able to understand you. I hear the phrase every day, spoken by native Mongolians, and it sounds more like "sen benno". The book says to say "sayn baynoo". What's up with that? And then the pronunciations for the Mongolian cyrillic that it gives are not correct. So you'd be trying to read something and thinking you were smart with your little book, and when you tried to say it, you'd never be right. So as far as translating a few basic, written words, this book could be helpful. But don't attempt to pronounce anything the way they have it written. I can't believe this is the "best" book out there on this subject! They need to rewrite the pronunciation section with the supervision of an actual Mongolian speaker!

I agree with the previous reviewers: the phonetic pronounciations given in the book are quite rough. However, as I had no idea of Mongolian language, showing the written cyrillic text was helpful and a basis for learning from natives during my trip.

Couch surfers and travelers should swear by this book. I lived in Mongolia for over a year, and many key phrases are mentioned in this book. Definitely learn Cyrillic script before you visit Russia or Mongolia. Its not too difficult to pick up. The Mongolian version differs in that they use tenderized vowels. The book touches base with all of that. (its useful for reading signs when riding the buses). AVOID CABS.

Don't get hung up on learning everything if you are passing through for a couple days. Just the essentials like "how much" ene xed ve? "thank you" bayarlalaa "hello" cain uu? Mongolian people are very generous, often patient and are happy to see you, so take your time with the language.

This perfectly sized phrasebook will be so handy on anyones trip to Mongolia....a real comfort to know you have translations readily available.