In a classroom in Mongolia's capital, students pass over the Soviet-era Cyrillic alphabet they grew up with and turn their copybooks sideways to practise the traditional, vertical Mongolian script that dates back to the empire of Genghis Khan. They are among a growing number inspired to learn the ancient letters after protests by their kinsfolk in China's Inner Mongolia region against reforms replacing Mongolian with Mandarin as the language of instruction in schools for core classes.