How do I help my child befriend someone with limited English kindly? 

Parenting Perspective 

Children often want to connect with their peers, but they can feel unsure of how to do so when language stands in the way. They may begin to worry, ‘What if I say something wrong?’, or ‘What if they do not understand me?’ Helping your child to see that a friendship can be built on a sense of warmth, not on the use of perfect grammar, can help them to develop their compassion, their patience, and their emotional intelligence. 

Teaching That Friendship Goes Beyond Just Words 

You can begin by saying to your child, ‘You do not need to be able to speak perfectly in order to make someone feel welcome. Kindness has its own language.’ You can explain to them that our tone of voice, our facial expressions, and our gestures can often carry our sense of care for another person more powerfully than our words alone. When your child is able to learn that a sense of friendliness is about their presence, not about their fluency, they can become a bridge for another person’s confidence. 

Encouraging Practical Acts of Inclusion 

You can show your child some small and simple ways to connect with another person in a kind way. 

• Smile first. A friendly look can often communicate more than a whole sentence can. 

• Use simple words and a clear tone. Slowing down their speech and choosing short, everyday phrases, such as, ‘Come and play!’, or ‘Do you want to join in?’, can help to build a sense of comfort. 

• Show, do not just tell. They can invite another child to play through their actions, such as by using hand signals, by pointing, or by offering them a seat. 

You might say to your child, ‘Imagine how brave that student must feel, trying to make new friends in a language that is new to them. Your patience can help them to feel safe.’ This can help to turn their feeling of empathy into a tangible action. 

Guiding Them to Adopt the Right Attitude 

It is important to teach your child to avoid correcting or laughing at another person’s mistakes. You could say, ‘If they say something in a different way, just smile and keep the conversation going. We do not want to make them feel small.’ Instead, you can encourage them to use phrases like, ‘It is okay, you can take your time,’ or ‘I think I understand what you mean.’ These small and simple reassurances can help to build a great deal of trust. 

Spiritual Insight 

Islam calls on all believers to honour and to include other people, regardless of their background, their language, or their culture. Every person is a unique creation of Allah Almighty, and so is deserving of our dignity and of our warmth. Helping your child to show a sense of compassion to someone who may speak differently to them is a part of living the beautiful prophetic model of mercy, a way of being in which a sense of care will always come before our words. 

The Quranic Teaching on Diversity and Understanding 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Hujuraat (49), Verse 13: 

‘O mankind, indeed, We (Allah Almighty) have created you all from one man and one woman; and placed you amongst various nations and tribes for your introduction to each other; indeed, the best of you in the judgement of Allah (Almighty) is the one who is most virtuous…’ 

This verse celebrates the great diversity of humanity, our different cultures, our languages, and our backgrounds, as wonderful opportunities for connection, not as a cause for division. When your child is able to befriend someone who may have limited English, they are practising this divine call to get to know one another with a sense of respect and of kindness. 

The Prophetic Example of Gentle Inclusion 

It is recorded in Al Adab Al Mufrad, Hadith 272, that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘The most beloved of people to Allah are those who are most beneficial to people.’ 

This hadith teaches us that our goodness as human beings lies in our ability to help other people to feel valued and included. When your child is able to slow down their speech, to offer a patient smile, or to find a creative way to be able to communicate with another, they are doing exactly that; they are offering a real benefit to another person through their own sense of gentleness. 

When your child is able to learn how to befriend someone with limited English, they are learning something that is far greater than just how to have a conversation; they are learning about our shared humanity. They are discovering that our kindness is able to cross all languages, and that a friendship that is built on a foundation of patience is the purest and most beautiful kind of connection. 

Your own calm guidance can help them to see that our compassion does not need to have perfect words; it just needs us to have an open heart. Over time, they will be able to carry this sense of grace with them into all of their friendships, learning to treat every person they meet not as ‘different’, but as someone who is equally worthy of their warmth. 

As they learn to smile, to wait, and to listen with a sense of care, they will be quietly living one of Islam’s most beautiful lessons: that the quality of mercy is able to speak every language, and that a heart that is able to welcome other people is a heart that is already fluent in the language of goodness.