I don't think it's to do with the language itself.
I know this is an old thread, but I believe I have some insight here:
The company I work for has design centers in China and the US, but the main center is located in Germany. Many of the core technologies are German.
For that reason, I have made an effort to learn to read German and perhaps write some short sentences. I'm not an expert on German language by a long shot, but I can understand a couple of things.
What is really difficult while reading German, besides the oddball grammar, is the use of compound words.
Take a simple one, a film's light sensitivity, you know, its ISO number. In German it is an infuriating word: Lichtempfindlichkeit.
When you encounter such a word, you have to first scan your brain for patterns and familiar words to break it in manageable chunks.
First one, it is easy: Licht or light. very common word.
Second one a little harder: keit, which is a prefix meaning similar to -ity or -ness.
The third part is harder: empfindlich...is it a single word or do I have to further divide it? After a while one realizes it means sensitive.
Thus: Light- sensitive- ness.......why not do it like English or most other languages, in a pair of distinct words: Licht empfindlichkeit??
This was a fairly simple compound word. Look on Youtube for some really hair rising examples.