Cosying up your Autumn English…
I love Autumn! It’s my favourite season, frankly. After the outdoorsy summer season where you spend hardly any time at home, Autumn draws you in, under warm blankets, with candles, cosy pillows, hot drinks and delicious harvest pies. And there are so many ways you can enjoy both the season and English learning together. There are many popular holidays in the English speaking world during the fall, including the Harvest festival, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Learning a language also means exploring and experiencing the cultures that speak it.
I have put together 12 activities that I believe are going to make your Autumn magical, will enlarge your vocabulary, and will help you get to know how English speaking countries celebrate while you also enjoy what your culture and the nature in your country has to offer.
1. Bake something autumnal 🥧
Bake an apple pie, pumpkin bread, apple crumble, cinnamon rolls etc.
English challenge: Find a recipe in English and follow it from start to finish.
Bonus vocabulary:
whisk · knead · fold · sprinkle · drizzle · preheat · bake · golden brown
2. Go on an autumn walk 🍂
Go for a walk somewhere with lots of trees.
English challenge: Take 5 photos and describe them in English.
The leaves have started to turn yellow.
The path is covered in fallen leaves.
It’s chilly but surprisingly sunny.
3. Have a cosy drink ☕
Make or order your favourite autumn drink.
English challenge: Learn how to describe the taste and texture.
It’s creamy, slightly sweet and has a hint of cinnamon.
Then answer: What’s your ultimate comfort drink — and why?
4. Try something you’ve never tried before 🎃
This could be a pumpkin dish, seasonal drink, unfamiliar fruit, new recipe etc.
English challenge: Before trying it, predict what it will taste like. Afterwards, give it a review.
I expected it to be quite sweet, but…
It was much more bitter than I expected.
I’d definitely have it again.
This is particularly good for practicing your comparatives, adjectives and expressing your opinions.
5. Visit a farmers’ market 🍎
English challenge: Find five seasonal foods and learn their English names.
Then choose one and Google/ ask AI:
How do you cook/use ___?
This turns a normal trip into an English mini-research task.
6. Read something cosy in English 📖
Choose a short story, article, blog post, poem or a few pages of a book.
English challenge: Find 5 beautiful/ useful expressions and use at least two in your own sentences.
7. Create an autumn playlist 🎧
English challenge: Choose 5 songs in English that feel like autumn to you.
For each song answer: Why did you choose it?
Think about the language around emotions, memories and associations.
8. Have an autumn movie night 📺
Choose a film or series episode in English.
English challenge: Watch it without Czech subtitles.
Then choose:
- one new expression
- one interesting phrase
- one character you liked/disliked
- one sentence you remember
9. Learn the names of 10 things you see outside 🌳
Go outside and identify:
🍁 leaves
🌰 conkers
🍄 mushrooms
🌲 pine cones
🌾 acorns
☁️ clouds
🐿️ squirrels
etc.
English challenge: Don’t just learn the nouns. Learn one collocation for each.
For example:
acorn → an acorn falls from an oak tree
fallen leaves → the ground is covered in fallen leaves
10. Decorate your home for autumn 🕯️
American homes can be beautifully decorated for fall. Find an autumn decorating video in English and use it for inspiration.
Follow the video and create your own little autumn decoration or cosy corner at home.
English challenge: Then describe what you made in English:
I decided to decorate my…
I used…
I chose these colours because…
I wanted to create a cosy atmosphere.
11. Learn one autumn idiom 🍁
Choose one:
- turn over a new leaf
- fall into place
- squirrel something away
- save for a rainy day
- under the weather
- harvest the fruits of your labour
- make hay while the sun shines
Then use it in a real sentence about your own life.
12. Have a cosy evening — in English 🧘♀️
Make tea, light a candle, get under a blanket…
English challenge: …and spend 20 minutes doing something in English.
Read. Journal. Listen to a podcast. Watch YouTube. Talk to someone.
