[knee-cartilage]

do we really need to be putting all our writing down to grade 5 level

[btilly]

You do if you want to understood by the average American.

Please remember that simple words do not imply simple ideas. As Hemingway said when criticized for his simple language, Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.

[weinzierl]

I'm sure the average Non-American reader appreciates it as well. Even more so all English as a second language readers like myself.

[Riverheart]

Not all, but if you're trying to convey complex ideas you probably want to save the readers mental bandwidth for the substance. Kentucky's healthcare exchange website targeted a 6th grade level and did well.

[nicbou]

It helps. There is a place and a time for clever language. You don't have to make complex topics more complicated with language.

If you are a government service, you will serve people who are not native speakers.