The arts are basically divided into three different categories: the Visual Arts, the Literary Arts, and the Performing Arts. Of course, there are art forms that combine the different categories—as well as art that is very difficult to categorize at all—but let's stick to the basics!

Today we'll focus on just the Visual Arts. The first type of art in this category is architecture, which the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as "the art or practice of designing and building structures, and especially habitable ones." The professional title of a person who creates architecture is an architect.

California's central coast is a gorgeous stretch dotted with Spanish architecture.

Captions 2-3, Travel + Leisure: Weekend Getaway, Santa Barbara

 Play Caption

banner PLACEHOLDER

The next type of art in the visual arts is ceramics, defined by Merriam-Webster as "the art or process of making ceramic articles."  Works of art made of ceramic are also called pottery. You call a person who makes ceramics a ceramicist or a studio potter.

The most popular pieces, I would say, are the ceramic pieces.

Caption 17, New York City: Little Shop of Crafts

 Play Caption

The next type of art in the visual arts category is drawing, which the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as "the art or technique of representing an object or outlining a figure, plan, or sketch by means of lines". 

So it's kind of a messy drawing, but it really helps to start to think of ideas.

Caption 27, Creative Space: What does an Interior Designer Do?

 Play Caption

A person who draws might be called a "drawer," but this is usually a person (such as a draftsman) who makes plans and sketches of machinery or structures, or a person who "draws up" or writes legal documents. Most visual artists use drawing as part of their skill set, if not as a finished product, then as a way to sketch out ideas.

Now we come to painting, a field practiced by painters, which is probably the traditional art form that most people think of when they think about art. It's simply defined in the dictionary as "the art or occupation of painting."

When I do an oil painting, it takes me a week or a month.

Captions 15-16, Creative Space: An Artist's Studio

 Play Caption

Next comes photography, practiced by photographers, which has many aspects that are not generally considered "high art," such as photojournalism for the news and commercial photography for advertising. Merriam-Webster defines it as "the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor)."

This rule applies to film-making, photography...

Caption 2, Filmmaking & Photography: The Rule of Thirds | What Is It?

 Play Caption

The next type of visual art is sculpture, a field practiced by sculptors, and defined by Merriam-Webster as "the action or art of processing (as by carving, modeling, or welding) plastic or hard materials into works of art."

She prays to be sculpted by the sculptor.

Caption 4, Alessia Cara: Scars To Your Beautiful

 Play Caption

The last form of visual arts is conceptual art, which Merriam Webster defines as "an art form in which the artist's intent is to convey a concept rather than to create an art object." A person who practices this art form is a conceptual artist. In the United Kingdom, conceptual art has come to mean any contemporary art that does not use the traditional skills of painting or sculpture. Since conceptual art may take the form of an installation, or a form that is not easily sold (in the way an object like a painting or sculpture can be sold), most conceptual artists live from art grants and other forms of financial support.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla English and watch the videos above relating to art forms and professions. Find a tandem partner in your class and make up some sentences in English using these art words, then compare what you both came up with.

As we saw in Part I of this series, many words of Spanish origin have been absorbed into the English language. You will find many English words of Spanish origin listed in American English dictionaries that you won't necessarily find in British English dictionaries, or in the latter they will be identified as Spanish words rather than English words with a Spanish origin.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Many words originating from Spanish are words that we associate with cowboys or the Southwest United States, which were originally territories of Spain.

I wore a sombrero once.

Caption 63, How 2 Travelers - Rethink What You Wear On the Plane!

 Play Caption

In English, a sombrero refers to a very wide-brimmed hat often seen in Mexico, but in Spanish, a sombrero is any kind of hat with a brim.

Ah, yeah, what a bonanza, a bonanza!

Caption 12, Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump

 Play Caption

A bonanza in English is a windfall or sudden good luck, which it can also mean in Spanish, although in Spanish it also means "fair weather."

California's central coast is a gorgeous stretch [weekend getaway] dotted with Spanish architecture, secret gardens, and chaparral-covered mountains.

Captions 2-3, Travel + Leisure - Weekend Getaway: Santa Barbara

 Play Caption

A chaparral is a dense growth of shrubs or small trees, stemming from the Spanish word chapparo, which is a kind of evergreen oak.

The trip through the labyrinth of flooded canyons is impressive.

Caption 11, The Last Paradises - America's National Parks - Part 8

 Play Caption

A canyon is a steep valley, often with a stream or river at the bottom. This is derived from the Spanish cañon, which has the same meaning.

185 of their friends are holed up in a crumbling adobe church down on the Rio Bravo.

Captions 25-27, John Wayne - The Alamo

 Play Caption

The word "adobe," the clay and straw bricks from which buildings are constructed in many drier climates, came to English via Spanish, but the word itself hearkens back to ancient Arabic, Coptic, and Egyptian!

[They] look like... kinda like chaps.

Caption 21, Chicago Bulls - Kid Picasso - Part 1

 Play Caption

Not to be confused with the informal British English "chap" (a "fellow"), chaps are the wide leather leggings worn by cowboys. This stems from the Mexican Spanish word of the same meaning, chaparreras.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
See if you can find the English meaning for other words with Spanish origins which are in common usage in the Southwest United States: arroyo, bronco, buckaroo, coyote, desperado, hacienda, machete, mesa, mustang, poncho, pueblo, ranch, rodeo, serape, stampede, vamoose, vaquero, and vigilante. Then look at some of the video examples above English Yabla and see how they are used in specific context.

Many words of Spanish origin have been absorbed into the English language, especially in the United States, whose Hispanic and Latino residents account for nearly 18% of the total population. As well as having predominantly Spanish-speaking territories such as Puerto Rico, the United States also borders the mainly Spanish-speaking Mexico. Thus you will find many words of Spanish origin listed in American English dictionaries that you won't necessarily find in British English dictionaries, or in the latter they will be identified as Spanish words rather than English words with a Spanish origin.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Some of the most common words of Spanish origin in English are food-based: 

Yellow split peas, boiled and grounded [sic] in the food processor, cilantro, habanero [pepper], garlic...

Captions 49-50, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives - Pam's Trinidadian Caribbean Kitchen - Part 1

 Play Caption

The fresh herb "cilantro" is most commonly called "coriander" in British English, whereas in US English, "coriander" usually refers to the dried root of the plant and not the fresh leaves.

Habanero peppers (habeñero in Spanish) are among the hottest chilis around, rating at 100,000 to 350,000 on the Scoville scale. The word "chili" (also spelled "chile" in English) is, although also a Spanish word, derived from the indigenous Nahuatl language that is still spoken by 1.7 million people in Mexico. Chili is also a kind of thick stew made from beans, tomato sauce, and chilis: 

Don't ever eat chili out of a dented can. That's my advice.

Caption 27, Karate Kids, USA - The Little Dragons - Part 9

 Play Caption

In the US, it's common to see canned (or "tinned" in British English) chili labeled as "chili con carne," so watch out if you are vegetarian, as con carne is Spanish for "with meat."

...and the good news is that I got some extra tortillas.

Caption 38, Travel + Leisure - Weekend Getaway: Santa Barbara

 Play Caption

In US and British English, as well as North American Spanish, a tortilla is a thin, round pancake made of corn meal or flour. But in Spain, a tortilla is more often a kind of egg omelette! 

Packaged foods, like chocolate and tea and salsa... 

Caption 9, New York City - The Union Square Holiday Market

 Play Caption

Come summer, this place is full of people sunbathing in bikinis, playing beach volleyball, and even dancing salsa.

Captions 24-25, World Cup 2018 - A Tour of Cities and Venues - Part 4

 Play Caption

Here you see "salsa" in its two meanings as a sauce and a kind of music and dance. 

Of course, nearly everybody knows this one, from the Spanish adíos:

If you didn't worship him, it was out, adios, you know, off.

Caption 76, Ask Jimmy Carter - Interview with Anthony Hopkins

 Play Caption

Actor Anthony Hopkins is British-born, but has lived in Southern California off and on since the 1970s, and in fact got US citizenship in the year 2000.

With that, we'll say goodbye for now! 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Take a look at this extensive list of Spanish words in English on Wikipedia and see if you can find some of them used in a real-world context on English Yabla.