Pronounced, this would be "x at grade-down of count of each x" - and indeed, in "q" (a syntactic sugar for K that uses words instead of symbols), this is almost how you would write it (rather: "x at downgrade count each x". It's basically algorithmic math notation: In math you say "b^2-4ac" rather than "b squared minus 4 times a times c". In K you say "x@>#:'x".
It's not just a matter of symbol/syntax familiarity - there's also idioms, etc. But the "scariness" is similar to the "scariness" of a language like Japanese or Arabic, which uses different graphic elements, syntax, vocabulary, and idioms. You might not like it, but it's not because there's something weird or wrong about it -- it's just foreign.
I learned APL on a mainframe over 30 years ago, which is not something I'd recommend (also, you're unlikely to have access to one), but rumor says Dyalog has good tutorials, such as "Mastering Dyalog APL", see links here https://www.dyalog.com/getting-started.htm
Disclaimer: I’m the author