Unlocking Autumn's Vocabulary for IELTS Speaking

Autumn, with its bright colours and fresh air, offers a wide variety of words to make your IELTS Speaking answers more interesting. Learning these words will help you paint a clear picture of how beautiful this season is in your exam.

1. Burst of Colour

• Meaning: A sudden and intense display of colours.

• Example: "Autumn brings a burst of colour as leaves turn shades of red, orange, and gold."

2. Fall to the Ground

• Meaning: When things drop to the earth's surface.

• Example: "During autumn, leaves fall to the ground, creating a colourful carpet under our feet."

3. Crunch (Verb)

• Meaning: The sound of something hard or crispy being crushed.

• Example: "I love the crunchy sound of leaves when I walk through the park in autumn."

Note: crunchy (adjective)

1. Foliage (Noun)

• Meaning:  The leaves on trees collectively.

• Example: "The foliage turns into a stunning display of colours in autumn."

2. Crisp Fresh Air

• Meaning: Clean, refreshing air often associated with cooler temperatures.

• Example: "In autumn, we enjoy crisp fresh air, perfect for outdoor activities."

3. Frosty (Adjective)

• Meaning:  Having a thin layer of ice due to cold weather.

• Example: "Some mornings in autumn can be frosty, with a hint of ice on the ground."

4. Nip in the Air

• Meaning: A slight chill or coolness in the atmosphere.

• Example: "There's a nip in the air during autumn mornings, signalling the start of the cooler season."

5. Wrap Up (Phrasal verb)

• Meaning: To dress warmly.

• Example: "As it gets colder, it's important to wrap up to stay warm in autumn."

6. Cosy

• Meaning:  Warm and comfortable.

• Example: "After a chilly day outside, it's lovely to relax in a cosy room."

Here are some sample answers to the  part 1 question, ‘What is your favourite season?’

Practice using these words to talk about how beautiful autumn is and really paint a picture for the examiner.

Exam tip: Paraphrase

What do you need to do to get a good score for vocabulary in the speaking exam? Look at the description for a band 7 response:

Band	Lexical Resource
7	uses vocabulary flexibly to discuss a variety of subjects uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices uses paraphrase effectively

• In the IELTS Speaking test, you want to show that you have a range of vocabulary to discuss the different topics (the language in this post will show the examiner that you can talk about autumn very well).

• A good range of vocabulary also includes paraphrasing, which means expressing ideas in your own words without repeating the examiner's question.

For example:

If the examiner asks, "What's your favourite season?", try not to say the same thing again, like "My favourite season is...". Make your answer more interesting by using different words. For example in the sample answers we said:

• ""I would say …

• "My favourite time of year is ..."

• "I particularly enjoy..."

Try practicing rephrasing the questions often asked in the test. This will make your answers better, more interesting, and different, which can improve your speaking score. Remember, paraphrasing helps you show how well you can express the same idea in various ways, showing your skill and flexibility in language.

Over to you …. What’s your favourite season?