> I think it's not our fault but that of the Englisch speakers:
> Their sentence structure is very rigid and doesn't lend itself
> much for the content rich long sentences that we are used too.

Long sentences are perfectly possible in English, as long as you get the
punctuation right.  Admittedly a lot of English speakers are lazy and break
the sentences up into small, easy to manage chunks just to alleviate the
need to work out where to put the commas etc!

> But the main problem is the way that the use of short sentences
> has affected their brains over time: They just can't stay
> concentrated long enough during long sentences anymore to
> understand the subtle nuances of what we try to express.

That last sentence doesn't scan to me... The just is superfluous. The
anymore needs to be worked into the sentence in a different manner to make
it sound right. You also mixed past and present tenses! ;-)

Something like this is better: They can no longer stay concentrated for long
enough during long sentences to understand the subtle nuances of what we are
trying to express.

Just to demonstrate, long sentences are perfectly acceptable in English
language, as long as you use the correct punctuation in the right places to
let the reader draw breath appropriately, as otherwise the reader doesn't
know how the sentence splits up until after they've read and thought about
it, which spoils the meaning and generally makes the words meaningless.

I was taught there should be punctuation wherever you pause when reading a
sentence if the punctuation is right.

Cheers,

Richard - (not American... :)
(and trying to be educational, not having a go at anyone)

-- 
Author: Richard Purdie
  INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Fat City Hosting, San Diego, California -- http://www.fatcity.com
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