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I don't know much about the European church system (not that I'm supposed to know anyway, given that I'm from South Asia), but it did come up in a few chapters of our History textbook.

My teacher said this just doesn't sound right to her. I suspect it's probably because I might be using brackets too liberally.

Would it have sounded stilted if I had done something like this instead:

I don't know much about the European church system, but it did come up in a few chapters of our History textbook. It's not that I'm supposed to know anyway, given that I'm from South Asia.

I understand how brackets popping out in the middle of a long sentence can be confusing/distracting, but at the same time, I also feel it flows nicer with brackets. And it is a more accurate reflection of how my thought process had originally been.

EDIT

A bit more context:

There were only 2/3 paragraphs at best on that topic and from what I've gathered, the Church used to wield more power than any king in Europe (I've no idea how much geographic area it spans). So basically the pope (the head of the Church) ruled over all the kings and could arguably be called the "king of kings".

All of this comes immediately after the sentence in question.

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    I see nothing wrong with the use of the brackets or the flow of the original sentence. – Jason Bassford Sep 17 '18 at 7:52
  • The only sour note in your first version is anyway. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Sep 17 '18 at 11:39
  • What is "2/3 paragraphs"? Two thirds of a paragraph? Two or three paragraphs? If the latter, it's two or three or a few. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Sep 17 '18 at 11:42
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo It is the latter. What is so wrong about using numbers instead of writing them out in words? I get that it has the risk of getting mistaken for a fraction. But I still don't think that it's too confusing as to what I mean. The context should make it apparent. – Soha Farhin Pine Sep 17 '18 at 12:04
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    two to three is not idiomatic there in the context of imperfect memory. You're not estimating, you're admitting to not remembering exactly. So you'd want to say two or three, which is not the same as two to three. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Sep 17 '18 at 12:58
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The single original sentence is fine... BUT added with the second section there are too many bracket sections.

It is fine if what you are trying to achieve is a stream of consciousness very informal style (think of a good comedian telling a long story with all the little short off shoots).

I personally would concentrate on the following section and leave the first section alone.

There were only 2/3 paragraphs at best on that topic and from what I've gathered, the Church used to wield more power than any king in Europe (I've no idea how much geographic area it spans). So basically the pope (the head of the Church) ruled over all the kings and could arguably be called the "king of kings".

But from my perspective this is a more stylistic approach than a grammar rule issue.

My kids are currently at school learning English as a first language and brackets appear to be out of fashion, they have been taught to use only commas for this purpose.

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