John DeFrancis

John DeFrancis is a Chinese language professor emeritus and researcher at the University of Hawaii who wrote a number of Chinese instructional texts (in particular, his Readers series is exceptional) in the 60's and 70's. Although some of his spoken language texts are now considered to be outdated, he remains a figurehead in Chinese language and linguistic research. His most famous work is arguably The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, in which the common misconceptions of the language are debunked and several other topics disseminated.

He is the editor of the "ABC" series of Chinese-English dictionaries.

External links

• John DeFrancis biography at Wenlin Institute
• Contents and an excerpt from The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy