Speak Still: Articulating the Silence of Bilingualism

404 Inklings #30

by Wing Lam Tong

Speak Still confronts colonial silencing by asking aloud: why do we, as speakers of English as a second language (ESL), feel estranged from the language, despite having known it since childhood? Taking the author’s bilingual experience in Hong Kong and the UK as a point of departure, the book reimagines a more inclusive sense of belonging for all through a fusing of personal narrative and cultural criticism, reclaiming silence as an interlocutor that interrupts cultural homogeneity, and opens up the time and space for subdued voices to be heard. Speak Still shows that this silence, indeed, speaks volumes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics, Essays

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2025

Reviews

[Salomée Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I have ever annotated a book that much before. The author has put into words what I've been trying to say about my own bilingualism for years. Although our experiences are very different, a lot of our feeling towards language(s) converge. Beautiful and poetic, well-researched and deeply personal (yet universal) Highly recommend!

[emilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A mostly poignant and moving account of bilingualism and the nuances of the silences people inhabit between languages. Some of this resonated with my (very different) experiences of multilingualism, and it especially illuminated the restrictive language a monolingual-centred culture uses to describe these linguistic experiences. Sometimes I found the writing overwrought and too heavy with metaphors and analogies with scanty bits of critical theory thrown in (attempting something a bit like Maggie Nelson's Bluets or Argonauts), which was mostly interesting but not always fully convincing. It was fascinating to learn a little about the history of English language teaching in colonised Hong Kong; I would have liked to get a bit more of that, but I suppose this is a memoir piece which doesn't promise to do a comprehensive history.

[Kai T]

Honest and loving account of our relationship with languages, “mother tongues”, “second language”, “third language”, etc, and how do we as language users claim languages as our own given the language hierarchy rooted in history and power. Also, essentially is the importance of silence which shouldn’t be understood solely as powerless and timid.

I don’t think all the ideas in this book are new to me. But the book was well written with lived experience intertwined with theories which gives me an important reminder of using my power as a speaker and empathy as a listener.

[Amy Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taken right back to my linguistics degree and why I love language so much. “Make silence our new lingua Franca”.

[Luis Vicente · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve lived in many places and bilingualism has been a reality for a long time. I still find myself hesitating and forgetting my words. I find myself losing grasp of my native tongue and not making up for it in my adopted “main” English. I fear the disconnect from other languages which mean more to me than I can know them.
These tensions and anxieties were reflected and countered in Wing Lam Tong’s thoughts and writing. I felt seen and heard, perhaps in ways I hadn’t allowed myself to understand before. I am at a point where life in the UK is a prospect with long term permanence, and Speak Still has given me some comfort to the anxieties of distance I feel in this place.
When I struggle to find the words, I’ll often say “you know what I mean” yet still attempting to explain myself afterwards. I don’t like being misconstrued, and I often fear that is happening, something I quickly try to correct. Perhaps I should trust those around me more, believe that they will respect the silence I need to remember and translate the sentiment. Perhaps I should be less harsh on myself and allow silence and patience.
As I sat quietly after finishing the book, sat outside the train I had just left, masses of passengers out into central London leaving me behind, I believed in the power of silence, and felt safe in its embrace.

[Mabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted the writing to do more (go deep, resonate) and say less - at times it felt overwrought and repetitive.

I liked the part on therapy and talking about emotions through the lens of another language. I thought there was a lot there to explore.

[Michelle]

A fascinating exploration of the moments in-between bilingualism. I especially appreciated the tidbits of the author's Hong Kong upbringing.

[Maria Isabel Giraldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Precioso relato personalísimo sobre transitar entre lenguas, mundos y vidas. El libro varía entre ensayo y autobiografía, entre inglés y explicaciones del cantonés, entre lo que se dice expresamente y lo que queda por decir. Aunque mi experiencia sea tan distinta, es muy parecida, y me vi reflejada en varios pasajes. Corto, fácil de leer, bello.

"We are made in language, yet part of that language is taken as an expediency. We don't mean what we say, ad we don't say wha we mean. Over time, the excesses of our meanings and intentions dissipalte into silence and become iretrievable".

"Home has no easy answer - for it is more than just a roof over our heads; it is also a feeling. It is the feeling of protection, a refuge where you can watch the typhoon safely from behind the thick windows with your cat purring on your lap. It is a reassurance, in the form of a place o a people, holding each other close against the unsettling unpredictability of this world. It is a feedom to wander, to stroll through the alleys and paths without fear, even as the last lights of the city switch off. It is also the sense of one's roots, the place from which we grow and brach into the world, as well as the very stem through which we find our way back.

"But I would have never experienced the nuances in the four seasions, or found the opportunity to tell my family story differently, if there had never been a distance created by migration and translation".

"Let words fail us, as they must, for us to find the ways to truly speak to ourselves and others".

[YU An · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book really grabbed my attention. I was genuinely curious to see how the idea of silence would be explored. I went into it hoping for a deep, reflective dive into the theme. Unfortunately, the reading experience wasn’t as engaging as I’d hoped.The book is more like an academic style + non-fiction, but shallow.

[Sabrina Schioppa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry more times that I care to count.
I never realised how speaking my second language exponentially more than my first affects me until I read this book and suddenly I felt the pressure of suppression. Indeed, by shutting down your native language, you also shut down a part of yourself. But the silence that ensues... Lam gives power to that silence.
At the end of the book, Lam mentions speaking to Rose, while at work, and explains how she communicates with parents with simple English and a lot of gestures. This inevitably made me think of my native language - Italian is made of silences which are filled with gestures. Our gestures are our language - where words fail, silence reigns. This realisation, that I always had power in silence, made me tear up.
Thank you Lam, my dear friend, for this amazing book. You have changed a lot of my perspectives and a piece of my life.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wing Lam Tong writes with as much bravery as she does softness. These are moving, lyrical and intelligent essays that beautifully capture how silence serves as lingua franca, the cultural divide between Hong Kong and London, and what it truly means to go home.

[Mads Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent piece for a massively-held experience, yet one that is not often spoken about.

[Chloe Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this, and hence I am very upset when I was not able to.

This was written from a highly educated person who shares a background relatively similar to mine, and I was hoping that I would find a sense of resonance I have not managed to find in memoirs. I very nearly found it - especially in the translanguaging very unique to those brought up in this 'biliterate and trilingual' system.

However, I might not be part of the intended audience (since this was probably meant to shed light to other linguistic groups rather than bring resonance to those within the same linguistic group). I really enjoyed the research - yet there are times the author simply used the research after stating her own experience and sentiments, and then simply moved on without exploring further not really linking the piece of research to said experience and sentiments (again, this is a me issue, because I really like to see research being applied to a point). It hence caused me to feel at times that this is not "memoir-y", yet also not exactly academic enough for my taste.

[dane · Rating 4 out of 5]

紙短情長: The words run out, but the affection endures.

Something shifted in me after reading this. I would love to see this expanded as a fuller memoir, though I really appreciated the academic parts and I’m eager to research more. An awakening account of bilingualism from the perspective/aftermath of the Handover in Hong Kong. As a non-bilingual person, this radically changed my perspective of language (and silence) and its (im)material effects on the self. Deeply empathetic and speaks of patience and hesitation as a necessary precondition to connection and communication. My only criticism is the structure and division of academic citations, but it’s really minor.

Also, I kept thinking of Phoebe Bridgers’ song ‘Motion Sickness’, particularly the final line: ‘And I want to know what would happen if I surrender to the sound.’

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is so rich and intelligent and wonderful. Everyone who speaks a second language should read this book. Native English speakers who've never spoken a second language should read this book. My first non fiction I've read in its entirety in years. I'll read more if I learn how to find more like this. Such a lovely balance of one writer's experience and interiority with thoughts and musings that seem universally applicable and that are informed by the perspectives of various others. And I loved being exposed to so many Cantonese expressions. It was thought provoking but also accessible and readable, and more than anything, thoroughly enjoyable.

[Maddy Willson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this book and gobbled it up in 3 days. Wing Lam is such a beautiful writer. Some amazing quotes - this one was my fave:

“I still believe in paying attention to the granular. Be it that slight feeling of being a misfit, or that nagging sense of non-belonging, the granular is what keeps us angular - such that we can resist being forced into predetermined narratives of who we are.”

Love the idea of the 404 series too - big ideas in little books. I’ll definitely be getting a couple more of these.

[Matilda Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of insight into hong kong, some interesting stuff on all communication being translation and on moving away from home, not sure the central idea on silence goes with a lot of what is said? sometimes the link back to it seems contrived

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Disclaimer, the author is a close friend of mine - but that just makes the book more even beautiful.

[Francesca Cavallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reflection on language, selfhood, and homeliness, this book found me like a warm hug when I was feeling homesick.