· 29 lists · 1450 words

Art and culture

The words used to talk about a work.

What holds these lists together

A painting, a novel, a staging, a piece of music, a ring from the workshop: these lists describe the same situation. You stand in front of a work with the everyday words for it, but not the ones used by the people who made it. Many share a Latin root with English and look simpler than they are. La función in a theatre is the performance, el argumento of a film is its plot rather than an argument, and la obra can be the work, the play or the building site. Even the shop is a trap: books are bought in a librería and borrowed from a biblioteca.

The 29 lists

B1Art and cultureGoing to the museum, and having something to say afterwards.50 words B2Talking about literatureNarrator, structure, style — the words for the text, not the plot.50 words B2Talking about film and musicCamera, cutting, casting, sound — past « I liked it ».50 words C1Fine artSupport, technique, condition, attribution — how a catalogue speaks.50 words C1Music in technical languageKey, voice-leading, forces, performance — the words of a programme.50 words C1The theatreText, rehearsal, stage, performance — all of it before the curtain.50 words C1PhotographyExposure, sharpness, light, working up — three dials and their price.50 words C1CeramicsClay, throwing, glaze, firing — a craft the kiln decides.50 words C1Textile technologyFibre, yarn, weave, finish — what a cloth is before anyone cuts it.50 words C1Typography and typesettingSize, spacing, page grid — how a page is built before it is read.50 words C1The goldsmith's craftAlloy, setting, cut, hallmark — how a piece is made and what it is checked against.50 words C1Museum workCollection, loan, display, learning — what happens behind the case before anybody comes in.50 words C2Literary figuresMetaphor, metonymy, hyperbaton, alliteration — the names for what a text does with language.50 words C2Verse and metreCounting syllables, measure, rhyme, stanza — how a Spanish poem is built.50 words C2Literary theoryText, author, reader, canon — the terms literature is argued about with.50 words C2AestheticsBeauty, the sublime, taste, judgement — the philosophy of art and of perception.50 words C2MusicologyForm, counterpoint, performance practice, analysis — how music is written about.50 words C2Opera and music theatreVoice types, closed numbers, staging and the running of a house — the words an opera house uses about itself.50 words C2Film techniqueCamera, light, cutting and mixing — the words a crew uses about the work, not about the film.50 words C2MythologyNarrative forms, character types and motifs — the language myths are compared in.50 words C2Architectural theoryType, space, place and design attitude — the words in which built space is argued about.50 words C2Narrative theoryVoice, focalisation, the handling of time and the building of characters — the tools a narrative is taken apart with.50 words C2Conservation of heritageExamination, intervention, materials and ethics — how an object nobody can replace is handled.50 words C2Dance and choreographyTechnique, composition, rehearsal and performance — the language of an art that cannot write its work down.50 words C2Graphic designGrid, hierarchy, colour and production — the words in which visual decisions are argued.50 words C2Handwriting and calligraphyTool, stroke, page, hand.50 words C2Bespoke tailoringCut, fitting, making — what a garment is made of.50 words C2The art marketGallery, fair, auction — and what makes a price.50 words C2GemmologyWhat a stone does to light, what has been done to the stone, and what has to be declared.50 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
B1	50	3 %
B2	100	7 %
C1	450	31 %
C2	850	59 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all 29 lists and all 1450 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.