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What works at different ages, and the reason a bilingual child answers you in English.
Children do not learn a language the way adults do, and almost every technique that helps an adult is wrong for a five-year-old. No grammar, no explanation, no correction. What works is volume, repetition, and the language being attached to something they want — a story, a song, a game, a grandparent.
The classic situation in a diaspora family is a child who understands everything and answers in English. This is not resistance or failure; it is arithmetic. Speaking requires more effort than understanding, and if English always works, Hindi is optional effort. The fix is not pressure — it is creating contexts where Hindi is the only option: a relative who genuinely does not speak English, a video call, a game with a Hindi-only rule.
Script can wait. Spoken fluency first, reading later, and reading is far easier for a child who already knows the words.
For an older child learning from scratch, the same rules apply for the first year: listening and speaking before writing, and material they actually like rather than material designed to teach. A film they choose beats a workbook you choose.
And be patient with a long silent period. It is normal and it ends.
Reading gets you the grammar. Speaking is the part that only happens with another human. EkGuru tutors are native Hindi speakers in India who teach one to one over video — no group classes, no subscription.
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