IELTS Listening map labelling: follow the speaker, not the map
Map questions are lost by searching the map instead of tracking the speaker. An original tour transcript with five labels shows the method and the traps.
Question typesListeningUpdated 8 min read
Map and plan labelling usually turns up in Part 2 of the Listening test: one speaker, a guided tour or an orientation talk, and a map with letters on it. Candidates who lose marks here nearly always make the same mistake. They hear a feature named, look at the map for somewhere it could plausibly go, and pick a letter. The speaker has meanwhile moved on, and the next two answers go with it. The method that works is the opposite: keep your finger on the speaker's position and let the map tell you the letter.
What the task actually asks
You get a map or plan with a set of letters (A to I, say), and a list of features with a gap next to each. The recording describes a route or a layout. For each feature you write the letter of its position. Three things about the format decide the strategy:
- The answers come in the order of the recording, not the order of the map. Feature 1 is described before feature 2. If you have heard 1 and 3, you have missed 2.
- There are more letters than features. Some letters are never used, and some are used for features that are mentioned but not asked about. A letter being "free" is not evidence for anything.
- The speaker gives positions relative to a route. "On your left", "just past", "opposite", "at the far end" all depend on which way the speaker is facing. If you lose the route, the words lose their meaning.
The language of position
The speaker will not say "F". They will describe where F is. The phrases are few, and they are worth knowing cold.
| What you hear | What it means on the map |
|---|---|
| straight ahead of you, directly in front | further along the direction you are facing |
| on your left / on your right | depends on the direction of travel, not on the page |
| just before you reach, just past, beyond | earlier or later along the route than the landmark named |
| opposite, across from, facing | on the other side of the path from the landmark |
| at the far end, at the very top, in the corner | the end of the current route; check which corner |
| where the paths cross, at the junction | the crossing point; the next instruction usually turns |
| it used to be, we were going to put it, originally | a correction is coming: the first position is the wrong one |
The last row is the distractor pattern that map questions rely on — the same mentioned-then-corrected build that Listening multiple choice uses for its wrong options. The speaker mentions a position, then withdraws it. A candidate who writes the letter as soon as a feature and a position have been heard together writes the wrong one.
The map
Riverside Allotments, described in words since a page cannot play a recording and the exam's maps are drawings. The entrance is at the bottom of the map, in the middle. A main path runs straight up from the entrance to the far end. Halfway up, a smaller path crosses it from left to right. The letters mark plots and open spaces:
| Left of the main path | On the main path | Right of the main path | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far end | G | I (path ends here) | H |
| Above the crossing | E | crossing path | F |
| Below the crossing | C | D | |
| Beside the entrance | A | Entrance | B |
Questions 1 to 5. Write the correct letter, A to I, next to each feature.
- Tool shed
- Children's plots
- Pond
- Compost bays
- Beehives
The transcript
Welcome to Riverside, everyone. I'll walk you round so you know where things are before you get your plot numbers. We're standing at the gate now, facing up the site. Straight ahead of you, that notice board is where the rota goes up each Monday. Now, on your right, just inside the gate, is the tool shed. It used to be on the left, where the bike racks are now, and the old sign is still up, so don't let that confuse you: right-hand side, by the gate.
Let's walk up the main path. These first plots on your left, before you get to the crossing path, are the children's plots. The school uses them on Wednesday afternoons, so if you're here then, expect some noise. The plots on the right at this point are the ones being reallocated this year.
Here's where the paths cross. If you turn right along the crossing path, you'll come to the pond at the end of it, on the far side of those fruit bushes. We originally planned to dig it at the top of the site, right at the far end, but the ground up there drains too fast, so it's here, just beyond the junction on the right.
Back on the main path and carrying on up. The compost bays are these three wooden bays on your left, just past the crossing. Everything green goes in the first one, please, not the third.
And at the top, where the path finishes, you'll see the greenhouse straight ahead. Don't go in without a key. If you turn right at the very end and go into the corner, that's where the beehives are. Keep at least a few metres back; the bees are calm but they don't like being surprised.
The answers, and where each trap was set
| Feature | Answer | The words that decide it | The trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tool shed | B | "on your right, just inside the gate" | "It used to be on the left" places it at A for a moment; "the old sign is still up" makes the correction easy to miss |
| 2. Children's plots | C | "on your left, before you get to the crossing path" | "the plots on the right at this point" (D) are mentioned right after, with no name attached |
| 3. Pond | F | "turn right along the crossing path... just beyond the junction on the right" | "we originally planned to dig it at the top of the site, right at the far end" offers H, then withdraws it |
| 4. Compost bays | E | "on your left, just past the crossing" | none, except that "first one, not the third" tempts you to write a number |
| 5. Beehives | H | "turn right at the very end and go into the corner" | the greenhouse is at I and is described first; the beehives are the second feature at the top |
Notice that every answer is decided by two pieces of information at once: a side (left or right) and a position along the route (before or after the crossing, at the end). A letter chosen on one piece alone has a coin-flip chance.
The procedure
- In the preparation time, fix the route. Entrance, direction of travel, main path, any crossing. Say to yourself which letters are left and which are right of the route as the speaker will walk it.
- Track the speaker's position at every sentence. "Let's walk up", "here's where the paths cross", "at the top": each of these moves your finger. Move it even when no feature is being named.
- Wait for the feature name, then take the position from the words, not from a guess. Left or right, before or after, end or corner. Two pieces of information, then the letter.
- Treat "used to", "originally" and "we were going to" as a red flag. Hold the letter until the sentence is finished. The corrected position is the answer.
- If you lose the route, jump to the next feature name. Every feature is announced clearly. Losing one answer is normal; losing three because you were searching for the first is the mistake this method prevents.
How to practise it
Do map sections with the transcript closed, then read the transcript and mark every position phrase in it. Within a few sections you will notice that the phrases repeat across recordings, and that the correction pattern appears in nearly every one. If the speaker still seems simply too fast to track, the problem is usually processing delay, not the recording's speed. After that the question becomes what it is meant to be: a test of whether you can hold a route in your head while listening — and a free Listening section, played once like the exam, is a fair place to test it.