Hi kavi sam,

This is the case with all children living abroad. We were also experiencing the same problem until recently. But we both insisted that he speaks in telugu our mother tongue with his grand parents. We watch tamil channels together and encourage him if he says something in tamil.

Now a days he speaks in telugu or even in tamil.When a tamil friend comes we only speak in tamil with him. This has improved his tamil proficiency well.

I am not sure how long it has been since you visited india.If you spend some quality time there then am sure your son is going to rock in tamil. Since my last visit abt 12 mths back to India my son keeps telling lot of tamil words which his cousins used to utter. Making him move along with children who speak in tamil would definitely help.

Also please whether or not he listens you keep showing tamil alphabets in books and some words and make sure he does this atleast for 5 minutes a day before he sleeps. Tell him that his grand parents cannot understand him and also that English is not his language of origin and at any point of time we will be in wonderful India where ppl only speak in tamil and it would be difficult to live there if he doesnot speak tamil.

Miracle will not happen . But slowly you can see change in him...you can observe it over a period of 6 months...don't worry...We did it..hope my suggestions are useful to you.

 THANK U POORNIMA 

it happens!!!! my niece spoke in such accent until they all decided to shift back to India.

Maybe you can try showing him cds, some stories where he will be curious to know what is happening. Create interest that way and then slowly bring it in your daily coversation. Dont impose and insist. he may resist it then.

play guessing games with him. like you give him a word and he has to tell you what it means.

All the best

Just keep on talking with him in Tamil. Don't give up. I know some families abroad have been very particular that their child knows the mother tongue and they do pick up. All the best!

i think u need not worry abt this.same thing was experienced by my co-sister with her son(US) when he was very young. ur son atleast speaks english properly but their son did not speak english also or tamil too. but later he picked up english well. now he is 7 yrs recently they visited India for 2 months he picked up tamil also so quickly  to the extent that he will reply only in tamil to all the relatives , grandparents etc(ofcourse broken tamil, saying his thatha as avan,ivan).so i think u need not worry,when u visit INdia u can make him to do that and after that u can continue at home in UK.he may find the language easy too.