My teen answers only in English. What can I do?

No source read for this site tests what works with a teenager who has stopped speaking the heritage language, so nothing here is a proven method or a promise. What exists is King and Mackey's advice in The Bilingual Edge (ch. 12) for a child who resists a language, and one page in the app built on it. Their central point: you cannot make a child speak a given language, so the aim is to make speaking it a choice the child wants. How hard to push, or whether to push, stays your decision.

What the sources say about a child who resists

King and Mackey compare it to making a strong-willed four-year-old wear a certain outfit: do not turn it into that kind of power struggle. Their alternatives are to talk with the child, in terms the child understands, about the real benefits of knowing two languages; to ask the child to explain, in their own words, why it matters to them; and to offer role models of the child's own age, not only adults. They add that their suggestions may do wonders or may do next to nothing, and that finding what works may take some experimenting.

The chapter also collects tips from real parents: a reverse-psychology line, carrying on without a fuss, a family game of small fines for slips into English, a "secret language" framing and a family "beeping policy". These are accounts of single families, not studies, and in the app's list the children are between 3 and 9 years old. Whether any of them suits a 14-year-old is not something the sources tell us.

Two more points from the same chapter. Language choice is emotional and tends to intensify tension already in a family, so King and Mackey advise against letting language become the stage for another disagreement. And for upheavals such as a move or a new baby, they say a pause is not a failure and language learning is lifelong, not a narrow window that has closed. That was written for disruptions, not teenagers. Applying it to a teenager who has gone quiet is our reading, not theirs.

What the sources do not tell us about teenagers

Adolescent identity, pressure from friends, what works at 14, and how likely any approach is to bring the language back: no source read for this site addresses these (UNVERIFIED). The app's resistance page is the same for every age and makes no claim about teenagers. We also do not know why your teenager answers in English. If you are worried about how your teenager is doing in general, a pediatrician or another professional is the right person to ask.

Ideas to try, as practical advice

These follow the direction of the chapter. They are our practical suggestions, not findings, and none has been tested on teenagers. Use one, several or none.

• Ask once, openly, why the language matters or does not matter to them, and treat the answer as information. This is the chapter's own suggestion.
• Keep your side low-key. One family in the chapter kept answering in their language without a fuss and the phase passed, but that child was four, so we cannot say it carries over. Whether you answer in the heritage language or switch is your call.
• Look for someone close to their age who uses the language: a cousin, a relative on a video call, a class. The app has a page on what King and Mackey say to check before choosing a class or tutor.
• Attach the language to something they already want. In one family King and Mackey describe, a mother allowed her daughter her usual movie on school nights only if the soundtrack was in the heritage language. The daughter grumbled at first, and it became a weekend habit they shared. Our notes do not record her age.
• If you step back for a while, you can plan to return to it. The sources do not rank pushing, easing and pausing.

What the app offers for ages 10 to 17

The app treats every age from 10 up as one band, and it accepts children up to 17. For that band the plan's default mix is 25% talk, 30% reading, 35% structured practice, 10% family ritual and no songs. That mix is the app's own design, with no cited source (UNVERIFIED). The activity text for this band suggests talking about things your child cares about, such as a game, a show or the weekend plan, and letting your child pick some of the topics. Reading is chosen for interest, and re-reading a favorite is fine.

ILLUSTRATION from the plan code, with invented inputs: a 14-year-old, Spanish at home, English outside, some current exposure, both parents at home, 20 minutes a day. With a conversation goal the plan gives 7 minutes of talk, 6 of reading, 5 of structured practice and 2 of family ritual.

The plan has no part that responds to refusal. The app's resistance guidance is the page "When it gets hard", the same for every age, reached from the Help tab of your family area. For ages 10 and up, the Today screen also has a guide to media in the heritage language, such as podcasts, music, videos and games. It says they are stronger for listening and reading than for speaking, and that it is worth staying involved in what your child watches or plays.

What is still unknown

• How often teenagers return to speaking a language they stopped using, and what changes that. No source read for this site measures it.
• Whether the real-parent tips in the chapter work with teenagers. They come from families with children aged 3 to 9, as the app lists them.
• Whether friends matter more than family at this age. No source read for this site tests it.