Real Easy English

Easy level

Talking about autumn

Episode 260925 / 25 Sep 2026

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Becca and Neil have a real conversation in easy English about autumn – the season after summer, where trees begin to lose their leaves. Learn to talk about crunchy leaves and cosy firesides, and find out what unusual choice of food Neil has cooked on a bonfire...!

Vocabulary

cosy
feeling comfortable and warm, especially when it's not comfortable and warm outside

bonfire
large fire built outside for celebrations

fireworks
devices that cause colourful explosions and loud noises, used for celebrations

crunchy
sounding brittle and crackly when crushed or bitten, such as dry leaves or apples

autumnal
related to autumn

Learn more about work 

Transcript

Becca
Hi Neil. How are you?
 
Neil
Hi Becca. I'm very well, thank you very much. Have you noticed that it's not summer anymore? It's autumn. How do you feel about that? What do you notice?
 
Becca
Yes, it is autumn in the UK and the weather's getting a little bit cooler, and the leaves are starting to fall from the trees.
 
Neil
You like autumn, don't you?
 
Becca
I love autumn! I'm excited for this episode because we're talking all about autumn today.
 
Neil
We are. And people need to know that they can go to our website, bbclearningenglish.com, to get a transcript and a worksheet to help them improve their English.
 
Becca
So, right now it is autumn in the UK. You might hear it as fall in other English-speaking countries. What changes happen in the UK during autumn?
 
Neil
The leaves fall. The leaves fall off the trees and they are crunchy on the ground. You can make big piles of leaves and jump into them.
 
Becca
It's so much fun. And I love also the crunching sound when you walk over those autumn leaves. Before the leaves fall off the trees, they turn into this beautiful orange-reddish colour. And I love all of these autumnal colours – so, autumnal being the adjective to describe something that relates to autumn.
 
Neil
Yeah. You really like autumnal things, don't you?
 
Becca
I do.
 
Neil
You like to wear different clothes?
 
Becca
I do, yeah. I'm very excited to start wearing jumpers and big boots. And, as you mentioned, it's getting colder now so I want to be warm and cosy.
 
Neil
Cosy. That's a fantastic word. Cosy is that feeling you have of being warm when things around you are probably a bit cold. So, it feels cosy if you go into a house on a cold day and there's a big fire, for example.
 
Becca
Yeah. So, I obviously love autumn. How does the changing of the seasons feel to you?
 
Neil
Well, usually... usually I'm not a big fan. I don't really like autumn because it means that the summer is over and I love summer and the long, late evenings. But this year it was so hot, I've had enough of summer, so I'm very happy that it's autumn.
 
Becca
Yeah.
 
Neil
How about you?
 
Becca
I feel the same. I've always loved autumn, but I am a really big lover of summer. But yeah, it has been far too hot this summer, so I welcome the autumn this year.
 
Neil
OK Becca. So, what kind of things do we do in the UK in autumn?
 
Becca
Well, I am excited for Halloween. It's not as popular in the UK as it is in the USA, for example, but I do love Halloween because I love things that are a little bit scary, and that's at the end of October. But on the 5th of November is when we have Bonfire Night.
 
Neil
Yes, Bonfire Night is when we make a big fire, an outside fire, to celebrate and we stand around the fire. And actually it's more about fireworks these days. So, fireworks are those very pretty explosions in the sky that we look at on special occasions like New Year and that kind of thing.
 
Becca
Yeah. So, it's usually quite noisy on the 5th of November, but the sky is lit up with beautiful fireworks. I can't remember the last time I did a bonfire. Do you celebrate Bonfire Night every year?
 
Neil
Well, I don't have a bonfire because I live in a city and it's not very nice for my neighbours, but when I was younger and lived more in the countryside, we would go to a Bonfire Night and we would stand around the bonfire and maybe even cook food in the bonfire.
 
Becca
Oh, OK. So, like toasting marshmallows or melting chocolate?
 
Neil
Baked potatoes.
 
Becca
Baked potatoes...?
 
Neil
Yeah.
 
Becca
I've never... I've never cooked a baked potato on a bonfire before.
 
Neil
Yeah, you wrap the potato in foil and then you put it in the fire, and then you wait. And then you open it and it's completely black.
 
Becca
That doesn't sound very tasty to me!
 
Neil
It's difficult to get it right.
 
Becca
Right... OK. That's a whole new thing. Alright, Neil, it's time to recap some of the vocabulary that we used during this conversation. And we'll start with one of my favourite adjectives, which is cosy. And that's the feeling of being comfortable and warm, especially when perhaps outside it's not so comfortable and warm.
 
Neil
Yeah. And we also heard bonfire. A bonfire might make you feel cosy. A bonfire is a large fire we build outside for festivals and celebrations.
 
Becca
Yes, I remember celebrating Bonfire Night as a child and we also saw fireworks. Fireworks are explosions in the sky, which make bright, colourful lights for everyone to watch.
 
Neil
We were also talking about the leaves that fall on the ground, and when you walk on those leaves when they're dry, it's crunchy. And crunchy describes the sound that those leaves make and also the sound when you bite into an apple.
 
Becca
And before the leaves fall, they are orange, and orange and red can be described as autumnal colours, autumnal being the adjective that describes things that are from autumn.
 
Neil
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English but join us again next week for another episode.
 
Becca
Yes, and you can find more episodes, plus this one and a free worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil
Bye for now.
 
Becca
Bye!

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