I completed a flashcard deck for the entire John Defrancis series. I got a lot of learning just from creating the deck but provide it for those who want it.
The three main texts are available separately in traditional characters and pinyin (3 volumes each) but not simplified characters. I used the character texts but not the pinyin texts. The main texts are designed for a formal class since the chapters allow rapid progression through the characters but there is insufficient repetition in the main texts to learn the characters properly.
The three readers (5 volumes) are a tour de force for Chinese learning (traditional characters only). These graded readers are designed to learn characters in small batches. The amount of text available is staggering; the student is brought up from zero to 1200 characters with enough spaced repetition for painless learning.
With "Beginning Chinese" and "Beginning Chinese Reader", the order of study matters less since the characters are repeated so often. If possible, I think that both "Intermediate Chinese Reader" and "Advanced Chinese Reader" should be studied before "Intermediate Chinese" and "Advanced Chinese".
I found the last few lessons in "Advanced Chinese Reader" a problem for learning since DeFrancis was forced to use the new words much more to have enough repetition to meet his design criteria.
The last 6 lessons of "Advanced Chinese" also were a problem. DeFrancis decided to teach more history and culture. Names and places use more "rare" characters which are less useful for students. This decision reduces the number of "common" characters taught each of these last 6 lessons (most of which were present in the readers as well). "Advanced Chinese" is the only volume where DeFrancis delineated "rare" characters with an asterisk (and are separated out in the attached file).
The three main texts are available separately in traditional characters and pinyin (3 volumes each) but not simplified characters. I used the character texts but not the pinyin texts. The main texts are designed for a formal class since the chapters allow rapid progression through the characters but there is insufficient repetition in the main texts to learn the characters properly.
The three readers (5 volumes) are a tour de force for Chinese learning (traditional characters only). These graded readers are designed to learn characters in small batches. The amount of text available is staggering; the student is brought up from zero to 1200 characters with enough spaced repetition for painless learning.
With "Beginning Chinese" and "Beginning Chinese Reader", the order of study matters less since the characters are repeated so often. If possible, I think that both "Intermediate Chinese Reader" and "Advanced Chinese Reader" should be studied before "Intermediate Chinese" and "Advanced Chinese".
I found the last few lessons in "Advanced Chinese Reader" a problem for learning since DeFrancis was forced to use the new words much more to have enough repetition to meet his design criteria.
The last 6 lessons of "Advanced Chinese" also were a problem. DeFrancis decided to teach more history and culture. Names and places use more "rare" characters which are less useful for students. This decision reduces the number of "common" characters taught each of these last 6 lessons (most of which were present in the readers as well). "Advanced Chinese" is the only volume where DeFrancis delineated "rare" characters with an asterisk (and are separated out in the attached file).