Limbo

Another topic which is brought up in 1984, perhaps more in the book than in the movie, is language. Does language shape who you are, and does the limitations of language limit your thoughts? Obviously in the book it is taken to the extreme with a language created to shape a certain way of thinking, but you can also see this in real life, maybe especially here in MUWCI where a lot of us comes from a different language background than English while here we speak it everyday.
Personally, Im currently in a state of limbo. I realized it all too well when I tried to write my World Lit in Norwegian and when my family came to visit me. I dont speak my own language anymore. Ïm searching for the words, maybe finding them in English but not in Norwegian. And, at the same time, my English is not good enough for me to adapt it as a first language. Basically, Im screwed.
But the combination of this state of limbo and living in India, getting to know concepts that does not exist in my language, has also made me realize that I can actually think without words. When youre at home and everyone around you speak your mothertongue, using only familiar expressions, it is harder to be aware of this area where langauge does not play a role, simply because your sourroundings are so familiar and you dont need to expand your notion of conceptions. Your language is adapted to your suroundings.
Exactly because I have this gap of missing words and expressions somewhere between Norwegian and English, Ive realized that even if I dont have the means of explaining it and expressing it orally to other people, be it my friends here in MUWCI or my family, I can formulate thoughts in my head that are abstract and not connected to any language. Obviously it is quite frustrating, because most of your thoughts and ideas you want to communicate them to other people, but it does weaken Orwells idea of that simply by creating a new language, one can shape how people think. Just as I have concepts that I cannot express in any language, even if a completely new language was taught to a child, he or she would still have conceptions and ideas that are outside the range of this language. Of course, the idea of that a society can be controlled by means of language is not that far-fetched, because even if one can formulate ideas, the words are not there and thereby not the communication between people either. And without being able to communicate these ideas, action is difficult and the idea of a government controlling a people in that way is not at all impossible...