Hello there! So, maybe you’ve already found this out on your own, but here is a post on the CALD thread, this is the tulpa.info home page, and this is the forum where you can find all the answers to any questions . They also have a usually very helpful IRC chat room.
Again, rather sure you’ve found out this on your own by now, but still, I’ll just go ahead and answer your questions anyway.
Me and the bunch of CALD people around here.
My first tulpa took two weeks to give me a first independent response, but the time needed for this varies A LOT.
Usually by mindvoice (which is basically the voice you think with). Since tulpas live in your head though, you can communicate by simply “sharing” thoughts, feelings and so on. A good number of tulpa also say that they communicated early on by sending their host (creator) headaches (never happened to me though).
Depends how you define “real”. A tulpa is a lot (if not all) about believing. A tulpa is able to do/say things that will surprise you, it is perceived as a consciousness similar, if not equal, to yours, which means it has its own personality, desires, feels and so on. A tulpa can also be “imposed”, basically, hallucinated and perceived as fully real like any other actual human being. There are not many people who have an imposed tulpa though, as far as I know.
I honestly don’t know. The plural varies, too. Tulpae, tulpa, tulpas…Whatever you like. Thoughtform, headmate, construct, tupper…There are many variations. The plural with the ending “ae” is, according to a few members of tulpa.info, an incorrect adding of a latin ending and doesn’t seem to make much sense and was only added to make it look more scientific and serious. Just use what you want, basically.