I would have never imagined that someone would describe their mother tongue as inhibiting. Maybe it's not our fault that we American's are self-centered loudmouths? ;) My wife (who's native tongue is Chinese) has related that there are some topics that she doesn't feel she can speak about clearly in Chinese. I have to wonder if the language builds cultural tools, and therefore some languages are better able to work within certain cultural situations. I've often wondered at German, and the advances in modern Philosophy and Physics that came from speakers of that language. Can German more easily handle the mesh between the abstract and the physical world? My 5mo daughter is hearing (and hopefully learning) Chinese and English everyday. I wonder if she will feel like the two languages express different sides of her personalities.