DECEMBER 2014

Issue 3

Building the Quality of Adult Education and English Language Teaching in Mongolia

The Achiever

Contents
2) Improving your English Formal Writing
3) Interview of a Bridging Course Student
4) Interview of an alumna
5) Profile of the University of Newcastle
7) The IET Summer Literacy Camp Project
9) IET Teams with National Academy of
Governance
10) The 2014 IET Quiz Night
11) Contact Information

Welcome to the third edition of the Achiever, the second for 2014.
This year has been both a busy and exciting one for the Institute of
Education and Training.
It has been truly inspiring for me to see all the things that IET has
accomplished since I arrived in May. Not long after arriving, I had the
opportunity to visit the summer literacy camps that IET supports,
including the first ever English literacy camp for disadvantaged
children. It was the commitment to give back to the community
through the promotion of parent and youth education - that made
me realize how unique the IET is amongst other English Training
Institutions. On several occasions, I have also been able to meet and
talk with the students going through our bridging course. I have
particularly enjoyed watching their English skills improve from week
to week, strengthening my conviction concerning what IET does. In
short, I am proud to be working with the IET.
I am also excited about 2015, which is rapidly approaching. In the
year ahead, I look forward to the establishment of an English Practice
Corner where former students and students in general can, one day a
week, speak with each other and practice their English. I also look
forward to making the website a more integral part of the IET student
experience, with the creation of an effective student portal on our
new website (www.ietmongolia.com). Finally, I look forward to
witnessing future successful summer camps, and speaking to the new
students of our future courses I am certain 2015 will be yet another
great year for IET.
I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate the IET board and
staff for making this year to be as successful as it was, and I hope you
the reader enjoy this edition of the Achiever.
Blake McDermott

Improving your English formal writing

Mike Rotheray

What do I need to do to write

well in formal English?
Writing well in formal English has several specific
requirements, some of which may be different from what
you are used to with writing in Mongolian. If you are
preparing for academic study in English and need to achieve
an adequate IELTS, or perhaps TOEFL score, then you need
to become familiar with the formal writing style. This is not
quite the full Academic Style needed for longer university
assignments, but exams like IELTS are stepping stones to
academic study and the fundamental requirements are
much the same.
These are what I think are three of the most important
aspects:
1)
Formal writing is cautious in its claims and
statements. Good writers of English are careful to avoid
claims that they cannot support without convincing
evidence. This means they often qualify or moderate their
statements and use terms such as maybe, could perhaps,
usually, generally, may, might and so on. Students from
other language backgrounds often do not use these kinds of
words and terms enough in their essays and reports.
Consider this statement:
Today, the internet has transformed the way people
work and live.
This is a grammatically correct sentence, and in a very
general sense it is true. However, has the internet changed
the way all people work and live in every way? What about
poor farmers or manual workers in developing countries
struggling to earn money for daily necessities? Now consider
this statement:
Today, the internet has transformed the way many
people work and live in a number of different ways.
This is a more precise statement, is it not?

If you study formal and academic writing in English you

will notice how often these qualifying terms are used. Be
especially careful about using the word always in
English, which is particularly definitive and allows for no
exceptions.
Does this mean you can never make a strong claim or
statement? No it is true, for instance, that there are
always cultural differences of some sort between
countries and societies. You need to be sure, though, that
what you are saying will be accepted by your reader, or
that you can supply supporting evidence which convinces
the reader that what you say is true.
2)
Formal English uses formal vocabulary. Good
writing maintains a consistently formal style in its
terminology. One of the typical weaknesses with writers
who speak other languages is that they tend to mix the
style of their terms so that informal and even slang words
get mixed up with more formal ones. This means they
produce sentences in their essays such as:
It is clear that parents have an obligation to teach social
values to their kids.
Obligation and social values are nicely formal terms
but kids is highly colloquial. It would be much better to
write children or offspring.

Like other languages, English has a large range of informal

words but while these do not in any way prevent meaning
being understood in a formal essay, writing looks more
mature and professional if they are avoided. Use
employer or perhaps manager rather than boss;
materials or perhaps items instead of stuff; and so on.
The many phrasal verbs in English are somewhat informal
and if you find yourself using one of these, see if you can
think of a single-word verb alternative. To encounter looks
a little more advanced than to come across; or to vet or
2

to verify looks better than to check out; while to hire is

better than to take on.
Another point to be aware of is that formal style does not
use the contractions from informal writing or speaking, eg
its, dont, cant, whats more etc. Always spell out the term
in full.
What you should be noting from all this is the importance
of establishing what register or style any new word or term
you learn fits into. Is it formal, informal, or neutral. A
good learners dictionaries will tell you this. This will help
you avoid mixing your styles when you write your essays
and reports.
3)
Formal English is written in full, grammatically
correct sentences. In informal writing, such as letters or
emails to friends, we often do not do this. The important
thing is that meaning is clear and so we often write in
phrases that are not complete sentences.
Formal writing, though, demands a higher standard of
grammar. Sentences need to be complete with at least one
subject and verb, and express a complete thought. There
are other elements too which may affect sentence
completion, but these are probably the most important.
This means you need to you have a sound understanding of
sentence types and the way they are constructed. Look at
these four structures and see if you can decide which are
complete:
There are a number of requirements for good writing,
these three are the most important.
Students make many mistakes.
Because they do not understand what makes a
sentence complete.
Because they do not understand what makes a
sentence complete, students make many mistakes.
What did you decide? The second and fourth structures
are complete sentences. The first and third are not. The
first is a comma splice, where two main clauses are
separated by just a comma and there is no conjunction to
join the clauses together. The third is a subordinate (or
secondary) clause and thus not a sentence in itself.
There are other elements of formal style which we could
discuss, but I think if you can follow these three principles
you will be well on your way to a good standard of writing.
Good luck!
Mike Rotheray is an experienced teacher and language
examiner who has worked for several years with adult
students in Mongolia, China and Thailand.

Interview of a Bridging
Course Student

What is your name?

My name is Bayanmunkh.
Where in Mongolia where you born?
I was born in Bayankhongor province, which is located
in western Mongolia.
When did you move to UB?
I moved to Ulaanbaatar a long time ago, when I was 12
years old.
Where do you work?
Ive been working at the Ministry of Finance for about
ten years.
Whats your position?
I am the senior officer of the public administration
department. Im responsible for planning, and reporting
to the minister of finance.
Why did you enrol in this course?
Many of my staff have taken this course, and passed the
IELTS as a result. Now they are studying in Australia,
and since I want to study in Australia as well, I enrolled
in this course.
How do you spend your free time?
In my free time I like to travel to the countryside with
my friends. My favourite hobby is to go fishing.
What do you like about this course?
This course has native English speaking teachers. In
addition, it teaches academic techniques to help study.
What do you hope to do in the future?
First of all, I would like to study overseas. Afterwards, I
would like to return to Mongolian and improve my
career.

Interview of an alumna
What will you be doing when you get back to Mongolia?
I have many plans for when I get back to Mongolia. I
would like to change customer service in the public
sector, because it is not good in comparison to the
private sector. In addition, I want to distribute my
knowledge to others who havent had the opportunity to
study in Australia or to study abroad. I want to teach
topics such as leadership, and peoples behaviour in the
workplace, especially within my work sector.

Where in Mongolia are you from?

I was born in the Gobi, about 1000km east from
Ulaanbaatar. When I graduated from high school, I came
to Ulaanbaatar, enrolled in Mongolia Technical University
and became a telecommunications engineer.
After that, I went to Erdenet city and got my first job. I
was the Mobicom branch director in Erdenet city. That is
how I started my career.
Why did you apply for Australian award?
After Erdenet city, I wanted to move into public sector
because it is quite interesting and also there are more
opportunities in public sector. Because of that, I moved
to Ulaanbaatar and worked in a Mongolian social
insurance organization. Whilst I was working in that
company, I saw an advertisement about the AusAid
scholarship program. I thought it looked interesting so
decided to apply.
In 2009, I started studying English by myself. After I
enrolled in IET, my English ability sky-rocketed. I learned
English very well whilst at IET and earned a 6.5 IELTS
score.

Do you have any tips for learning English?

Yes, I have a few tips for learning English. First of all, you
need to listen to English movies and English programs as
often as possible. For example, at home, I always listened
to English radio channels such as the BBC and voice of
America. I always listened to these two radio stations on
my way to and from work.
When I was at home, I also always watched the national
geographic channel, BBC and ABC, and this improved my
English ability very quickly.
Another thing is that I was not shy when I talked with
foreigners. Speaking with foreigners played an important
role in improving my spoken English. My teachers would
often praise me for always trying to speak with
foreigners.
Another good tip is that when I was starting English, I
bought a book called Barack Obamas Speech. This book
had two sections one in English and the other in
Mongolian. I studied this book for almost 6 months. I
always compared English words and English sentences to
Mongolian words and Mongolian sentences. I would
often translate English sentences into Mongolian
sentences. After that, I fully understood the grammatical
differences between Mongolian and English.
How are you finding your time in Australia?
Wow, its very wonderful. It is very sunny and clean, and
there are beautiful beaches and parks. The people are
very kind as well. Before I came to Australia I saw that
Australia is one of the top 5 countries that people want
to live in around the world, and I can understand why.

Where in Australia are you?

I am living in Sydney, and study at the Sydney branch of
Central Queensland University. I am doing a Masters of
Business Administration.

Profile: The University of Newcastle

For two years, IET has been working as an official education agent for the University of Newcastle, Australia.
The University of Newcastle offers a range of programs to suit varying levels of English language proficiency,
and also offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs. This year, five of our students went to this
University as part of a study tour.

About the University

The University of Newcastle is a comprehensive international university ranked in the top 10 of Australian
research universities. They have a student population of more than 35,500 including over 7800
international students from more than 80 countries.
They offer a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs through their five faculties:
Business and Law - Education and Arts - Engineering and Built Environment - Health and Medicine - Science
and Information Technology

How UNC ranks:

Top 3% of world universities
Ranked 45th university in the world under 50
years of age
Times Higher Education 100 under 50 2012

Times Higher Education World University

Rankings 2012

A five star university for

research
QS Stars 2012

Education: Top 150

Medicine: Top 200
Sociology: Top 200
QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013

7th for research, well above world

standard
Excellence in research for Australia 2012

About Newcastle
Newcastle is situated on the East Coast of Australia, about a two hour drive North of Sydney. It is the second largest
city in New South Wales and the seventh largest city in Australia.
Set on a breathtaking stretch of Australias Pacific Ocean coastline, Newcastle is the only city in Australia where the
central business district is positioned simultaneously on the beach and the harbor waterfront. The port entrance is
home to Nobbys Lighthouse and the Breakwater, both iconic imagery of Newcastle.
The international publication, Lonely Planet named Newcastle as one of the worlds top ten cities to visit in 2011.
Lonely Planet described Newcastle as a unique blend of imagination, sophistication and laid-back surf culture with
a sun-drenched subtropical climate and diverse dining, nightlife and arts.
Newcastle boasts some of Australias best beaches and waterways for swimming, surfing, sailing and other water
sports. Newcastles harbor waterfront is a popular area for locals and visitors.
With a regional population of around 500.000, Newcastle supports a thriving business and commercial sector and an
excellent network of health care and educational facilities. Combined with a low cost of living and a favourable
climate, Newcastle presents a relaxed and welcoming lifestyle.
Of course the University of Newcastle is a large part of Newcastles appeal and a major draw card for interstate and
international visitors. Newcastle is a great place to live and study.

We are also a registered agent for the University of Sydney, and will be
doing a profile for this University in our next edition of the Achiever

The IET Summer Literacy Camp Project

In cooperation with Mongolian Education Alliance (MEA), The Institute of Education and Training (IET) successfully ran
two Mongolian Language Summer Reading Camps.
The first Summer Reading camp was held from 30 June to 4 July at the Verbist Care centre`s (orphanage centre)
campsite in Gachuurt. 20 kids attended this camp for five days. They were supervised by MEA`s two training teachers,
a teacher from the school, as well as by one assistant teacher from the Verbist Car Centre.
The second Summer reading camp was held from 1 August to 5 August at the Javkhlant camp in Terelj with two training
teachers from MEA and two teachers from the secondary school #49, situated in Chingelte district, Ulaanbaatar. The
49th secondary school`s 30 kids who were selected for this camp were all from disadvantaged families.
During these two camps, training teachers from MEA along with teachers from the secondary schools conducted
educational activities including: forest reading, reading competitions, writing and singing. All these activities were
designed to help foster an appreciation for learning. There were also many outdoor activities, including a tennis day
organized by the Ulaanbaatar tennis club. Trainers also ran workshops with the parents and guardians before, during
and after the camp to ensure literacy and education can continue to be encouraged and developed in the home once
the camps are over. In line with contemporary research into the roles that early literacy and cognitive development
play at the primary school level, our camps reflect a collaborative investment into foundational skills so that students
are supported to achieve their academic potential.
IET provides all the lesson materials and carefully selected books for the camps. Books help and encourage kids`
learning, and reading interesting books (using the teachers taught reading method) helps to improve their literacy
level.
At the closing ceremony, each child was presented with a box of new books for their home library. In addition, a set of
books was presented to the six secondary schools by IET staff, two training teachers from MEA, and representatives
from the Rotary club Of Ulaanbaatar.
The Institute of Education and Training (IET) ran its first successful Summer English Literacy Camp for children from
disadvantages backgrounds this year based on the previous five successful Mongolian language camps. The children, of
different ages, were selected from schools located in the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar , such as School number 120, 35, and
119 .
The aim of this camp was to build on the work already started in the school, and also to show children and their
parents how to enjoy their learning of a new language.
The closing ceremony was held at IET with parents, kids, IET staff, and MEA`s teacher. Each kid was presented four
English books for their home library as well as an access code to an online learning system which they would be able to
use free of charge.
For all camps, parents and guardians traditionally visit the camp for a day to see their childrens progress and also to
see what activities their children are participating in. When the parents and guardians visited the camp, the children
were very excited to do a performance they had been practicing and to share stories with their families about their
camp life and the things they had learnt during their time there.

'IET teams with National Academy

of Governance'
including budget pressures, renewed demands for
government action to address complex problems, less
ideologically driven policy-making and economic
globalisation and competition. Dr Johnston also
referred to a reaction in some countries to the
excessive fragmentation associated with New Public
Management reforms.

In May 2014, IET conducted a joint workshop with the

National Academy of Governance (formerly called the
National Academy of Management).
The workshop focused on improving policy
coordination, including international experience,
Cabinet processes and the role of policy think tanks and
institutions like the National Academy. Participants
comprised senior policy makers and academic staff
from the Academy, including Dr Ts Samballkhundev,
former Director of the Civil Service Council.
The keynote address was given by IETs Dr Mark
Johnston, an international specialist in public policy
development, who has worked with senior Government
leaders on policy development processes in many
countries across Asia and Africa, including Thailand,
Vietnam, Egypt, Ethiopia and India. Mark is a founding
member of IETs Board and has worked on a range of
civil service reform and leadership programs in
Mongolia since 2003.
The workshop identified six different types of policy
coordination, ranging from determining national
priorities among competing demands on resources and
ensuring policies are consistent with national strategic
plans, to coordinating operations and the impacts on
specific groups.
The
increasingly
complex
challenges
facing
governments around the world have made it even
more important to develop and implement policies in a
co-ordinated way, Dr Johnston emphasised. This is
especially true of major development projects, in for
example, where decisions can have far reaching
implications for communities, businesses and the
nation as a whole.
He pointed to a number of underlying factors behind
the need for greater cohesion in policy-making,

The discussion of the potential role of think tanks in

policy development covered instrumental, conceptual
and symbolic roles they can play and the importance of
the timing and presentation of policy advice to
Governments.
Dr Johnston reported that a few countries are starting
to provide training for their Ministers, ranging from
highly developed nations like the United Kingdom to
the worlds newest nation, South Sudan. When they
are first appointed most Ministers have little idea what
is required of them or how to do their new jobs, even if
they have years of experience in Parliament or in other
organisations, he pointed out. My confidential
interviews with many individual Ministers in various
countries has revealed a strong demand for short,
practical training on how to be a good Minister, with
many Ministers confiding how lost they were when first
appointed.
The participants were exposed to a range of practical
measures taken in other countries to improve
coordination and discussed their potential application
in Mongolia.
These included revised Cabinet
procedures to facilitate consultation and cooperation,
liaison networks between ministries and strengthening
the policy capacity of ministries and secretariats.
The workshop included a case study discussion on the
Draft Economic Planning Law led by the National
Academys Dr Byambsuren Yadmaa, which provided an
opportunity for participants to apply some of the
concepts discussed in the workshop.
9

2014 IET Quiz Night

On 26 November, at the MexiKhan, the IET held its

annual quiz night. It was a well-attended and fun event,
with the aim of celebrating the past year, and also
raising money for next years summer literacy camp.
IET staff, alumni, and students attended the event, in
addition to the numerous friends of IET. Also attending
the event were AVIDs (Australian Volunteers of
International Development), the representative of
Mozzies (Ariunaa Lkhagvasuren), Mr. Munkhsuren
(President of AustCham), several professors from the
Mongolian National University, Paul from the Aussie
Meat Company, as well as other distinguished guests.
The evening was officially opened by Dr. Manaljav, IETs
Chairperson, who thanked our guests for being there,
and also thanked the numerous organizations that
donated prizes to the event. The list of prizes and prize
donors includes:
- A beautiful calligraphy piece by Double Check
Calligraphy
- A voucher worth 100,000 tugrik from The Aussie
Meat Company
- Two bottles of wine from Xanadu Wines
- Ten dictionaries from Admon Publishing
Several books from the Mongolian Translators
Association
Dr. Manaljav then introduced the MC of the evening, the
Australian volunteer, Blake McDermott.

The attendees all split into five different teams: The Snow
Leopards, The Khangaroos, The Camels, MNU, and the
two man team Roy and HG. Then the trivia questions
began. All the questions had a Mongolia-Australia theme,
with questions such as When did the first Mongolian land
on the moon and What is the average lifespan of a
kangaroo. There were three rounds of trivia in total.
Between rounds, attendees were able to buy raffle tickets
for the various prizes we had on offer.
After we tallied all the results, the winners of the event
were the Khangaroos. They were awarded the MongolianEnglish dictionaries donated by Nomin Publishing. Then
we began the raffle draw. Over 130 raffle tickets had been
sold throughout the night, making the competition for
prizes fierce. Nevertheless, many people won prizes and
had a good reason to celebrate.

Thank you once again to all the attendees and donors who
helped make this event as successful as it was. Also, thank
you to our venue hosts the MexiKhan for providing the
perfect place and atmosphere for this event. All in all, this
event was a tremendous success, and we look forward to
next years quiz night.

10

Contact
Suite-406, Level-4
Tanan Centre Students-33
Sukhbaatar District
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Office: 976-11-330083
Fax: 976-11-331185

Letters, editorial queries and also

Other queries should be sent to:
Institute of Education and Training
iet.mongolia@gmail.com
For more information about IET
please visit our website:
www.ietmongolia.com
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