Adventurer gives French lessons any time, anywhere

A French adventurer has put his wanderlust on hold to offer flexible language classes to Hong Kong's Francophiles.

Gary Poinas, 30, met his wife in Hong Kong in 2008 while on a world cycling tour, and after a 40,000km road trip he has settled in the city to teach French.

Learning Café, which Poinas co-founded a year ago, offers students the flexibility to decide when and where to take their lessons as well as an online learning tool to access exercises on the go.

"Many people come from other schools," Poinas said. "They come to us because when you have a lesson every Thursday at 6pm and at the end of the month you've been to only one class, you change."

A flexible lesson schedule is popular with professionals who travel regularly for business because they can alter the time and location of their lessons, he said.

Poinas, from Marseille, has taught across the city in offices, people's homes and coffee shops. Students book 10 hours of lessons, which can be taken whenever they wish at a total cost of HK$6,000.