A novembre porto sempre una sciarpa, mentre a dicembre preparo spesso una zucca al forno.

In Italian, a + month is a very common way to mean in + month.

• a novembre = in November
• a dicembre = in December

This is different from English, where we usually say in November. Italian often uses a with months, seasons, times, and other expressions of time.

You may also sometimes see just the month by itself in certain contexts, but a novembre / a dicembre is completely natural and very common.

Italian uses the present tense for habits and repeated actions, just like English does.

• porto sempre una sciarpa = I always wear/carry a scarf
• preparo spesso una zucca al forno = I often make a baked pumpkin / roast pumpkin

The present tense here expresses a regular habit:

• in November, I always do this
• in December, I often do that

So even though the habit repeats every year, the present tense is the normal choice.

The verb portare literally often means to carry or to bring, but it can also mean to wear, especially with clothing or accessories.

So in this sentence:

• porto una sciarpa = I wear a scarf

This is very natural Italian. Depending on context, portare can mean:

• to carry
• to bring
• to wear

You learn the meaning from the object and the situation.

Italian usually uses an article more often than English does. Here, una means a.

• una sciarpa = a scarf
• una zucca = a pumpkin

Both sciarpa and zucca are feminine singular nouns, so they take una.

Italian does not normally drop the article here, so:

• porto sempre una sciarpa sounds natural
• preparo spesso una zucca al forno also sounds natural

Both nouns use the feminine singular article una, which tells you they are feminine.

• una sciarpa
• una zucca

Also, many Italian nouns ending in -a are feminine, although not all. So sciarpa and zucca fit a very common pattern.

Their plural forms are:

• la sciarpa → le sciarpe
• la zucca → le zucche

Notice that zucca becomes zucche in the plural to keep the hard c sound.

Mentre often means while, but in this sentence it works more like whereas, while, or on the other hand, showing a contrast between two time periods and two habits.

• A novembre porto sempre una sciarpa, mentre a dicembre preparo spesso una zucca al forno.

It links the two parts of the sentence:

• in November, I always wear a scarf
• in December, I often prepare baked pumpkin

So yes, mentre can mean while, but here it is better understood as a contrastive connector, not necessarily two actions happening at exactly the same time.

Sempre and spesso are adverbs of frequency:

• sempre = always
• spesso = often

In simple sentences, Italian often places these adverbs after the verb:

• porto sempre
• preparo spesso

That is a very natural position. English often does something similar, though English placement can vary more depending on the verb.

These combinations are very common and idiomatic:

• mangio spesso
• studio sempre
• vado spesso
• porto sempre

Yes. Indossare is a more specific verb meaning to wear (put on / have on) clothing or accessories.

So:

• porto sempre una sciarpa
• indosso sempre una sciarpa

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel:

• portare is very common and flexible
• indossare is more specifically about wearing clothes/accessories

For everyday speech, porto una sciarpa sounds very natural.

Al forno literally means to the oven or in the oven, but as a food expression it means:

• baked
• oven-baked
• roasted depending on context

It is formed from:

• a + il = al
• forno = oven

So:

• una zucca al forno = baked pumpkin / oven-roasted pumpkin

This structure is very common in food vocabulary:

• pasta al forno = baked pasta
• patate al forno = roast potatoes
• verdure al forno = oven-baked vegetables

Italian commonly uses a preposition plus article in many set expressions. Here:

• a + il forno = al forno

You need al because the phrase is idiomatic: something is cooked in the oven / oven-style.

So:

• zucca al forno is correct
• just zucca forno would be wrong

This is one of those expressions best learned as a whole chunk.

Yes. Italian usually repeats the time expression when each part of the sentence has its own time setting.

• A novembre porto sempre una sciarpa
• mentre a dicembre preparo spesso una zucca al forno

Repeating a makes the contrast clear and balanced. It sounds natural and helps structure the sentence neatly.

If you removed the second one, the sentence would feel less clear and less polished.

Italian often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• porto = I carry / I wear
• preparo = I prepare

The -o ending tells you the subject is I.

So Italian usually says:

• Porto sempre una sciarpa rather than
• Io porto sempre una sciarpa

You can add io for emphasis or contrast, but it is not necessary here.

You could make both objects plural if that better fits the situation:

• A novembre porto sempre delle sciarpe, mentre a dicembre preparo spesso delle zucche al forno.

But the original singular nouns are perfectly natural because they refer to the item/category in a general way:

• una sciarpa = a scarf
• una zucca al forno = a baked pumpkin dish / one pumpkin prepared that way

Italian often uses singular nouns naturally in habitual statements like this.

Sciarpa is pronounced roughly like SHAR-pa.

Important points:

• sci before a/o/u usually sounds like English sh
• so sciarpa begins with a sh sound, not a sk sound

A rough pronunciation guide:

• sciarpa ≈ SHAR-pa
• zucca ≈ TSOOK-ka

That double cc in zucca is pronounced more strongly than a single c.

Yes, that is a reasonable translation in terms of meaning, but it is not a word-for-word match.

Literally, the Italian is closer to:

• I often prepare a baked pumpkin or
• I often make pumpkin in the oven

In natural English, you might say:

• I often make roasted pumpkin in December
• I often bake pumpkin in December
• I often cook pumpkin in the oven in December

So your translation is fine if the goal is natural English meaning, even if it is a little less literal.