How does medium of instruction affect the knowledge you gain?

A half remembered story about a problem that was baffling scientists in a US (genetics?) lab but which seemed only very simple to a visiting German(?), and that because the German(?) language makes no distinction between forelegs and hindlegs OR (what seems more German) obliges a person always to say forelegs or hindlegs when referring to a quadruped. Or something.

Someone will know what I'm on about. But is this the kind of thing you were asking after?

Ask Dynamo.

Kind of. What I mean is your whole education life is influenced by concepts and new technical terms. These technical terms are heavily restricted to the medium of instruction (what language is used to teach the subject/s). So surely these technical terms form a part of your knowledge. A dutch maths student would never have heard of "completing the square". He would be aware of the concept of completing the square and the equivalent dutch translation.