To allow the Kalmyk language to fulfill its new functions it was necessary to update existing terminology or to create new ones for the spheres where it was supposed to be used now. Besides, relatively new disciplines (e.g. psychology and sociology) and new areas of interest (e.g. the Internet and space travel) constantly develop new terminology. The Kalmyk language to maintain itself as a modern language has to standardize its modern terms and modernization was to become the next target.

To address the need to purify the language and to create new terminology Terminological Committee was founded. The Committee aimed at creation of new scientific and technological terminology, the development of suitable language style for use in specialized fields such as computer and law and in other wide range of topics of up-to-date relevance. New terminology was introduced through the local newspaper in Kalmyk "Khalmig Unin", several concise Kalmyk-Russian dictionaries in different spheres were published. The links with the other Oyrat community living in Xinjiang (a province in China, which can be considered a native land for all the western-mongolian groups and where a descendants of those who left the Volga region in 1771 live) established with the beginning of Perestroika became of great help in this process of the language modernization and purification, as that community managed to maintain and develop the Oyrat language better. It is remarkable that they are still using Old Oyrat Script "Todo bichig". One can encounter many words borrowed from the language of that community in the modern Kalmyk language

Graphization or the reform of the orthography became another goal of the language reform. The reform of the orthography is of special significance for the Kalmyk language for a number of reasons. As it has already been mentioned the Kalmyks got through the change of alphabet three times when they had overcome the shock and begin from the beginning. According to Goraev and Omakaeva the consequences for standardization of the language were grave and sometimes irreparable. Almost three generations of the Kalmyks have grown up estranged from the treasures of their cultural heritage as the literature of the past exists in the Old Kalmyk Script. At present with a growing interest of the people in its traditional culture and history it is most urgent to make available these ancient manuscripts for scholars and the general public (Goraev and Omakaeva, 1999). Some language reformers spoke in the favor of restoring the old script, but most of them were for reforming the existing writing system. These scholars think that an inadequate orthographic system alongside other factors (….) aggravate the language situation in Kalmykia. Native speakers, most concerned about the state of their mother tongue demanded the reform of the Kalmyk script as a first step towards the improvement of the language situation in Kalmykia. Projects along these lines had been worked out to remain unrealized since no attempts at their promotion at the state level were made, while codification of orthographic norms is the concern of the state policy.

On May 7, 1998, the decree of the President of the Republic of Kalmykia "On Measures for Further Revival and Development of the Kalmyk Language" (No. 87), which has been waited for so long, was issued. It outlined the priorities of the language reform in Kalmykia. The next decree of the President of the Republic of Kalmykia "On Measures for Gradual Introduction of the Reformed Orthography of the Kalmyk Language" (No. 203, adopted on November 5, 1998) gave the responsibility to the Kalmyk Institute for Humanitarian and Applied Studies for the full formulation of the normative principles and rules of a reformed orthography, preparation of an orphographic dictionary of the Kalmyk language for its publication and presentation of a new grammar within the framework of common theoretical concepts. "The Set of Orphographic Rules of the Kalmyk Language" was confirmed by the State Commission for the Improvement of the Kalmyk language on March 19, 1999 (Goraev and Omakaeva, 1999). These authors draw the attention to the fact that the current reform of the Kalmyk script has brought to light the problem that some native speakers do not see the difference between the oral and written forms of the language and regard attempts to improving the orthography as a threat to the language itself, while the reform is aimed at reaching maximum correspondence between the spelling of words and their pronunciation.

Anyway, the new orthography rules have been adopted and their implementation has started. First of all the periodicals published in Kalmyk began to use new orthography for part of their publications. All the signs in public places have been changed. The 2000-2001 school year became the first to introduce the new textbooks with the reformed orthography for the first grade pupils. Teachers have been specially trained for this purpose. It is planned to introduce a new textbook alongside with the new methods of teaching. Here we are at the first stage and it is too early to make any conclusions, though the debates on this issue are still continuing.