“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

Albert Camus, a French philosopher and author

Autumn is a wonderful season, full of color, refreshing winds, and thoughts on life. In the fading autumn sunlight, isn’t it fun to go walking listening to rustling leaves and breathing fresh autumn air? It should be. Yet, not everyone loves this time of the year. It’s sometimes associated with cold, loneliness and depression. Whichever way you look at it, we hope the words we’d like to teach you today will make you feel warm, and the new knowledge will lift your spirit.

Autumn or Fall?

Fall means autumn in American English:

1. The event is scheduled for fall 2030.
2. That fall he was elected to his second term.
3. It’s a common sight in the fall.
4. Summer and fall of 2018 were generous in performance opportunities.

Autumn is widely used not only in British English but in American English too:

1. “Autumn in New York” (a 2000 American romantic drama film) is one of my favorite movies.
2. “…Summer love will keep us warm long after our autumn goodbye…” (from “Autumn Goodbye” by Britney Spears, an American pop singer)

Talking About Autumn

Useful vocabulary from the video

• Leaves change color / rustle / fall off the trees
• to bundle up – to dress warmer (also, to be bundled up)
• to rake leaves (with a rake)
• to mulch leaves (with a lawn-mower)
• to reap the harvest (to collect the food from the fields)
• to put scarecrows /ˈskeə(r)ˌkrəʊ/ in the fields
• the temperature drops / gets colder / falls / goes down

Remember that when we talk about seasons, we can use “the” or we can omit it:

1. I like to walk in (the) autumn/fall.
2. He often goes for a swim in (the) summer.

Autumn Fun

Jane: I love the season of fallen leaves because, like all introverts, I thrive in it. I love roaming less crowded streets, watch colorful leaves fall, enjoy the quiet of my home, re-watch my favorite films and make bird feeders with my daughter. We sometimes take a drive in the country and go for a hayride.

• to thrive in sth. – to become very happy in some environment, or doing sth.
• to roam – to move/travel with no particular purpose
• hayride – a traditional American and Canadian activity consisting of a recreational ride in a wagon or cart pulled by a tractor, horses or a truck, which has been loaded with hay or straw for comfortable seating

Ben: In September my family often rent a cabin in the mountains. We love digging up our sweaters before the trip, breathing the crisp air when we are there, in nature, going for a hike and listening to leaves crunching under our feet. There is something comforting about watching birds fly south for the winter, and the sound of falling drops is very calming too.

• cabin – a small simple wooden house in the mountains or in a forest
• to dig (dug; dug) sth. up – to find sth. and use it
• crisp – crisp air is pleasant because it’s cold and fresh
• to be in nature – to get close to nature
• hike – a long pleasant walk in the county
• to crunch – to make a noise like sth. being crushed

Jennifer: Although autumn has its fare share of haters, I love it. Many people seem to long for summer when autumn comes, especially kids who start a new school year, but there are some autumn activities which never fail to cheer me up. Apple picking, leaf peeping, eating candy apple, collecting colorful leaves, tailgate parties, bake sales and jumping in piles of leaves with my kids are just great.

• fare share – reasonable amount
• to long for sth. – to want sth. very much
• to cheer sb. up – to make sb. feel happier
• apple picking – apple harvesting
• leaf peeping – an informal term in the United States for the activity in which people travel to view and photograph the fall foliage /ˈfəʊliɪdʒ/ in areas where leaves change colors in autumn. An organised excursion for leaf peeping is called a foliage tour.
• candy apple (American English) – toffee apple (British English)

• tailgate party – a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle

• bake sale – a sale of cakes, biscuits, etc. that people bake in order to make money for a school or church

Michael: The reason why I love autumn is Halloween. I always carve my own pumpkin, give out candy to trick-or-treaters and get spooked in a haunted house. Needless to say, I throw the best Halloween parties in the town.

• spooked – frightened
• needless to say – used for saying that something is already known or understood
• to throw a party – to organize a party

Do you have traditions like leaf peeping or tailgate partying in your country? Please share a bit of your culture with us in the comments below. 😉

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