Mongolia is in the middle of a mining boom. With companies like Oyu Tolgoi investing billions in infrastructure, we’re seeing a lot of students who want to brush up on their English skills to give them a competitive edge when they apply for some of the mining sector jobs now available.

Over  the last three years Talk Talk English has worked with some of the leading mining and petroleum companies in Ulaanbaatar and around Mongolia. I’ve personally taught a lot of students in the mining sector and I think I’ve been able to form a pretty good impression of their needs and requirements. 

One common misconception that I’ve observed when mining companies begin an English training program is that they think all their employees need to dive into specialized vocabulary right away. What I’ve found is that most of the workers actually already know a lot of mining words in English! It’s just that they’re not able to use the words in complete sentences and apply them to the right situations.

The patterns of grammar and syntax in the English language remain the same whether you’re using general English words or specialized mining vocabulary. I’ve found that students gain a much higher level of fluency if they initially concentrate on learning basic English, and then allow themselves to naturally start using their specialized vocabulary as it comes up on the job. With their newfound confidence gained from learning general English they’ll be much more likely and willing to use specialized English on the job.