> I've read that English speaking people [...] don't read letters, but read words

In fact, in English, people tend to read groups of words at a time, (which is an) (important thing to) (remember when) (setting type as) (poorly-chosen line breaks) (can affect the) (ability to read) (smoothly) - have you ever noticed that when reading out loud, you tend read ahead a few words and then speak, rather than say each word as you read it?

Whereas in German it is common to read groups of letters, which is why they can cope with reallylongwordslikethis.