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Guernésiais is the language of love this Valentine's Day thanks to a translation and performance of Shakespeare's timeless play in Guernsey's native language.
The play was one of many works that Guernseyman Thomas Martin translated into Guernsey French 100 years ago.
His manuscripts, which are housed in the Guernsey Archives, are being brought into the light of day by Island language, a not-for-profit organisation that wants to make a number of Shakespeare's famous works available to the public, starting with Romeo and Juliet.
Director Chris Dye said embracing modern media was the key to stimulating new interest in the language.
“There is a lot of openness to it, but for whatever reason some people are not able to get into it. One of the reasons for me is that we need some tools and materials available to make it more accessible, so people can take the first steps from knowing some words and phrases to having a basic conversation.
“If we make it available to 21stcentury media it can grow. We want to take this large and beautiful language of the island and make it more accessible for people."
In addition to posting videos online, Island language is currently raising funds to start an online Guernesiais dictionary featuring recordings and a guide to pronunciation.
The language of the most economic benefit to the children of Guernsey is Guernesiais: a unique cultural product that we can put on anything we produce that instantaneously makes it more unique and interesting to outsiders. Nothing else that Guernsey has can do that.
— Christopher Dye (@christopher_dye) February 10, 2019
Their goal is to raise £2,000 by the end of March and the crowdfunding site is uk.gofundme.com/GuernseyLanguageApp.
Pictured: Mr Dye grew up in Canada, in an area where people were expected to have at least elementary level knowledge of Canadian French - like Guernésiais, a variation of Parisian French.
When he read up on Guernsey online before moving here, he found out about Guernésiais and has been hooked ever since.
“I looked around and found the Language Commission, contacted them and got involved with a few of their activities and started taking lessons from Yan Marquis. From there learning the language became quite addictive. It is a unique artform that can be used by people for their enjoyment and profit."
The group will publish well-known video excerpts on its website, learnguern.com in February, with plans for the full play to be available in book form at a later date.
Here are some Guernsey French phrases you can use this Valentine's Day:
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