@vincentt… not true… it depends on the root of the language—and therefore what is easier to transfer.
For example in Polish it’s easier to produce long academic sounding English.
That’s because their language has two basic roots – Slavic and Latin. Everyday words like “girl” (dziewczyna) or “red (czerwony) or follow the Slavic root, while academic words like “philosophy” (filozofia) and “chaos theory” (Teoria chaosu) follow the Latin.
So when I was in Poland it would be easier for me to have a philosophical discussion with someone than to chat about the weather!
But funky language pairs aside, vincett, you are probably right that for most langauges, people start simple with words they can remember. Which is many cases tend to be the shorter words.
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@klaas – Unfortunately I have no insight on Dutch people speaking English…