The Hues of Fall

Herbst (Fall) is probably the most underrated season of the year albeit, it has a lot to say. It tells of age-old customs of spooky stories and dressing up. It tells of the richness of pumpkin which is infused in literally everything- from drinks to soaps (I presume). It tells the story of knit scarves and the fiery colours we adopt with pride. And the leaves! How beautifully the leaves age from bright green to sunset shades! The rolling landscape urges us to fall in love with the subtle chill in the air, with every crackle that takes place under our feet.

I may have read a book full of poems before writing this.

And may also have had a dream of such visions present in front of my house (quite impossible).

Munich was a prime destination for autumn landscapes. Nature painted the entire city awash with the mesmerizing colours of yellow, pink, orange and brown, all of them blending fantastically to urge me to capture that breathtaking sight in my memory. I remember briskly on the road, wanting to rush away from the bitter cold, but ironically also revelling in it. It had been the first time I had experienced something like that, the fiery colours of the leaves all around me, the fast pace at which the sun went down, bringing on the dark cover of the night.

I feel like this is a helpful parallel to understanding languages. I always imagined them with varying degrees of difficulty. At times grammar was a cakewalk, but speaking was a task. At times listening exercises were simply beyond understanding, yet writing an essay was enjoyable. It was indeed a struggle with various elements of German. But when all these came together, they created a complete picture with varying shades of difficulty. Difficult areas of language learning need more practice and focus. It’s not rocket science. Everything is achievable to a decent degree when the effort is put in the correct direction. Your investment will yield results.

Resources are all around us. We need to pick them up wisely. You can imagine the fun to sing Halloween songs in German to be part of kids’ Halloween fiesta when you speak what they speak!

So hate on pumpkin spice lattes all you want, or debate over which Halloween costume you want to wear, just enjoy the season (even though we don’t have colour-changing leaves).

Frohe Halloween

Bis Dann

– Hitixa Vora