I'm learning Mongolian, and part of my goals is to be able to read printed Mongolian Cyrillic and write cursive Mongolian Cyrillic, as well as learning some vocabulary and grammar.
I'm trying to be "diligent" and not use the Latin alphabet to represent Mongolian, apart from learning the sound of each Mongolian Cyrillic letter. Partially because learning Cyrillic is one of my objectives, and partially because I assume the Latin alphabet cannot perfectly represent Mongolian. In addition, I suspect that using the Latin alphabet would make me try to pronounce words as if they were English words. I know that Mongolians use the Latin alphabet on mobile phones and sometimes online, but I suspect that until I get Mongolian Cyrillic down pat, I should avoid Latin.
I've just started one-on-one weekly lessons with a tutor who is Mongolian, and while she has experience teaching languages, she has not taught someone illiterate in the target language before.
My question is this. How do I learn an alphabet and its pronunciation while I hardly have any vocabulary and grammar? And how do I learn vocabulary and grammar while I am new at reading and writing the alphabet? It seems like trying to pull myself up by my shoelaces.
I guess I can learn vocabulary and grammar without any writing by just listening and talking with my tutor, and not worry too much about taking notes, but that makes revision more difficult.