VisitLondon.com and Swiftkey team up to celebrate Shakespeare’s legacy as part of Fans of London campaign
Watch Famous actor Simon Callow surprise Shakespeare super fan on stage at The Globe
A new smart phone app which adds a Shakespearean touch to your text messaging, has been launched today to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death and as part of a tourism drive for the capital, called ‘Fans of London‘.
Working with VisitLondon.com, the official visitor guide for the capital, ShakeSpeak has been developed by software company SwiftKey, best known for their language prediction app. By analysing the Complete Works of Shakespeare they developed an app that helps turn your text messages into Shakespearean prose by predicting the playwright’s best known phrases.
Swiftkey’s app, which is available to download free of charge, allows you to simply type the first word or two of a famous Shakespearean quote and the technology will do the rest. For example:
To be or not to be, that is the question
That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet
All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players
Some are born great some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them
The course of true love never did run smooth
And in order to make you your text messages as authentic as the Bard’s language, Swiftkey’s analysis of the Complete Works of Shakespeare recommends using ‘Thou’, ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ in your text messages, as these three words are among the most frequent Shakespeare uses compared to how we speak today.*
Or simply start your sentence with ‘Ha!’ or an ‘O!’ or a ‘What ho!, accompanied by plenty of exclamation marks, for a much more authentic Shakespearean feel.
And make sure you are unfailingly polite by using ‘Sir’, ‘Madam’ and even ‘Ay my good lord, which are peppered throughout Shakespeare’s plays.
VisitLondon.com has identified some of the most genuine and deserving fans of the Royal Family and Harry Potter as part of the campaign. Now comes the turn of Lori Jones from Chicago, Illinois, a dedicated Shakespeare fan who was recently flown to London for a once in-a-lifetime trip.
Whilst enjoying a behind-the-scenes tour of Shakespeare’s Globe, Lori was surprised on stage by classical actor and director Simon Callow, who conducted a voice workshop with her in the Sam Wanamaker playhouse.
Actor and director Simon Callow said: “Lori’s knowledge of and passion for Shakespeare is testament to the Bard’s fan base all over the world. After all this time, Shakespeare’s works are still relevant to us all, and it’s a delight to know that his legacy is still very much alive in London – the calendar of events to honour the Bard this year is truly spectacular.”
ShakeSpeak is available to download on Android from 9am BST on 7th April for smartphones and tablets on Google Play (search ShakeSpeak), and also via SwiftKey Greenhouse, the company’s hub for experimental software.
For the chance to win a trip to London go to www.visitlondon.com/fans
