My name is Ekaterina Volkova. I am a second year student of International Studies in Computational Linguistics, at the University of Tuebingen, Germany.

I also do a project research for my motherland Tver State University.
This research is devoted to English idioms, which include names of colours, like "white hot", "green tea" or "red eye". My aim at this stage is to study the perception of such idioms by native as well as non-native speakers.

To participate in this research, You need to send me short message with your consent to patricipate to one of the following addresses: katlynx@mail.ru , katya.volkova@gmail.com , katlynxie@hotmail.com.
As a responce you will receive a letter with the Research.zip archive attached to the e-mail into a separate folder (If your mail-box filter does not accept zip archives, I can send the files as separate attachments). The archive contains seven files. I will give You a short description of each of them.

Two of them are text files:
ReadMe.txt gives instructions how to run the programm under various Operating Systems (namely, for Linux, MacOS and Windows), Letter.txt contanis text very similar to the message You are reading now.

The third file is a text file which contains the actual idioms a participant will work with. You don't need to do anything with the text file. The other two are java class files, that is the programm written by me and my groupmate Chris Millar specially for this research. To run it, You need to have Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed, which is often the case. If You don't have it, You can download it at http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp . It is a useful thing to have not only for our research programm. The rest two file is a batch scripts for easy programm launching.

If you are running Linux or MacOS, click on Start.sh file icon. If you are running Windows, click on the Start.bat file icon. It will launch the programm for You. Please read the ReadMe.txt for more details. So far I don't have a site of my own for You to run it from Internet, this is possibiity is still is project.

The first thing our programm asks is some general data about the participant. There is no name among this data, so Your identity will remain anonamous. If You want, You can send Your name in the answer email, ofcourse :) , as well as any comments or suggestions.

When You are done with the first slide, click the "Next" button. Then You will be presented with the first idiom. Important: please, do not consult Your dictionary! The aim of this project is find out, what are the assosiations one may get in connection with a certain idiom. What the project is not aimed at is Your knowledge of English :)

Please, give Your meaning to the idiom in a special editable area provided. You may also add Your examples of some idioms usage or other comments - there is enough place for anything, and any information given will be considered with attention and gratitude. If You think that You have never seen a certain idiom before, You may still give a guess of its meaning. Feel free to express any associations, because these are very important for us. Nevertheless, we understand, that the amount of idioms is big (to be frank with you, there are 169 of them), so feel free to miss some You find uninteresting, obsolite or old-fashioned. Really, I would not like You to overstrain. Besides, such approach will only allow us to fing out which idioms are most wellknown.

As soon as You reach the last idiom available for this project, the "Next" button will disappear, and the only choice left will be to click the "Save" button. Please click this button only in case You want to save the data and then quit the programm. This button will not help You to "save results on Your way half through". Also, if You click the "Close Window" button, the program will quit, but Your valiable results will not be saved :(

Overall, Your answer will be saved in the same folder You have specified for the research files in the answer.txt file. Please, send this file to one of my e-mails, so I could further work with Your results.

Thank You in advance for participating in this project.

Best Regards, Katya.

:-0))))))

хотя, конечно, не ожидала такого... немцы и те отзывчивей.

Идиомы я собрала, описала и классифицировала в первой курсовой, а это исследование - психолингвистическое, у него несколько этапов, причем этот - первый.

никаких вирусов и подвохов в проге нет, иначе бы она сама на комп закачивалась и делал что хотела ;)

просто сайт еще в состоянии раработки, и пока я его создам, пока перепишу прогу на апплет - времеми утечет уйма.

грустно, сограждане. там же все написано - давайте определения только тем идиомам какие нравятся, пишите что в голову придет... эх :(

в надежде на отклик и сотрудничество,

КАТЮША (по выражению любезного E-male)

ЗЫ: если кто-нибудь знает форумы "начинающих исследователей" - киньте ссылку, буду стучаться во все двери, кто-нибудь отзовется

Удивительно, Вы уже не первый месяц живёте в Тюбингене и до сих пор не поняли прописной истины (типа Binsenwahrheit), что немцы действительно отзывчивей. Надо было Вам немецкие идиомы исследовать, Вам тогда на немецком форуме Мультитрана помогли бы, причём охотно и без обидных замечаний. Это Вам на будущее, когда докторскую будете писать :))