Maps, plans and diagrams

How to follow directions and label a map or plan in IELTS Listening - the language of location and movement, the 'You are here' marker and a worked example.

In this task, usually in Part 2, you see a simple map of a site or a floor plan of a building, with several places marked by letters. You hear a speaker describe where things are, and you match each named place to a letter. Some candidates find it the easiest task in the test; others dread it. The difference is almost entirely a matter of preparation: knowing the vocabulary of position and direction, and knowing how to read the map before the recording starts.

What the task looks like

Label the plan below. Write the correct letter, A–H, next to Questions 16–20.

16 gift shop 17 weaving shed 18 picnic area 19 education room 20 water wheel

There are more letters on the map than questions, so some letters are not used. The places are described in the order of the questions.

A less common version shows a diagram of an object or a process, with parts to be labelled from a list or with words you hear. The approach is the same.

Step 1: Read the map before you listen

Use the pause to answer five questions.

1. Where is the starting point? Look for ‘You are here’, an arrow, or the word Entrance. Recent tests nearly always mark it. All directions will be given from there.
2. Is there a compass? If you see N ↑, expect north, south, east, west. If not, expect left, right, straight ahead, at the back.
3. What is already labelled? Roads, rivers, the car park, the main building. These are the speaker’s landmarks: ‘next to the ticket office’, ‘beyond the lake’.
4. Where are the letters? Notice their rough positions: which are close to the entrance, which are in corners, which are beside the same landmark.
5. Which letters are easily confused? If A and B are both next to the ticket office, the speaker will have to distinguish them, and that is where a distractor is likely.

Put your cursor or your finger on the starting point. As the speaker moves, move with them.

Step 2: Know the language

Position

Movement

Compass directions

In the north-west corner; to the east of the mill; on the south shore; the western side; due north of the entrance.

Remember: on a map with N at the top, east is on the right and west is on the left. It sounds obvious, but under pressure people mix them up. Write a small W and E on your notepaper, or highlight the compass, before the recording begins.

‘Left’ and ‘right’ depend on which way you are facing

‘As you face the visitor centre, the tool store is the building just to the right of it.’

Imagine yourself standing at the starting point and looking in the direction the speaker describes. If the speaker walks down the map (towards the bottom), their left is your right. Turning the notepaper, or imagining yourself in the map, helps.

Step 3: Listen for the name, then the location

The speaker will say the name of each place in the list, so you know when each question starts. Usually the name comes first and the location follows, but sometimes the description leads up to the name:

‘And last of all, the thing everyone wants to see, which is the water wheel. It’s on the north side of the mill, in the small wheelhouse between the main building and the river.’

Sequence words tell you a new item is beginning: first, now, next, after that, another place, and finally, last of all.

Distractors on maps

The typical trap is to mention a wrong location before the right one:

‘You might expect the gift shop to be beside the ticket office, but it’s actually opposite, on the left of the path as you walk in.’

‘Now, there are two grassy areas by the water. The one in the north-west corner has been fenced off as a wildflower meadow. The picnic area is the other one, on the far side of the weaving shed.’

Listen all the way to the end of the description before you choose.

Worked example

Imagine a plan with the entrance gate at the bottom centre and a river along the top. A path leads north from the gate to the Main mill building in the centre. The Ticket office is just inside the gate on the right. A Car park is in the bottom-left corner. A compass shows north at the top. The letters are placed as follows:

Now read the guide’s words:

‘As you come through the gate, the ticket office is immediately on your right. You might expect the gift shop to be beside it, but it’s actually opposite, on the left of the path as you walk in.’

→ Gift shop = A (B is the ‘might expect’ distractor.)

‘If you carry on up the path, you come to the main mill building. The weaving shed is the long building to the east of the mill.’

→ Weaving shed = F (east = right)

‘There are two grassy areas by the water. The one in the north-west corner, behind the car park, has been fenced off… The picnic area is the other one, on the far side of the weaving shed.’

→ Picnic area = G

‘The education room isn’t inside the mill itself. It’s in a separate building just to the west, between the mill and the car park.’

→ Education room = C

‘The water wheel… is on the north side of the mill, in the small wheelhouse between the main building and the river.’

→ Water wheel = E

D, B and H are not used.

Notice how each description uses two pieces of information (to the west + between the mill and the car park). If you catch only one, you can often still decide; if you catch both, you can be sure.

If you lose your place

• Listen for the next place name from the list. That restarts you.
• Use elimination: letters you have already used will not be used again.
• A place you missed can often be guessed sensibly from what is left.

Practice routine

1. Describe maps yourself. Take any map from the practice tests and describe aloud where each letter is, using at least two expressions for each. If you can say it, you will recognise it.
2. Draw from a description. Read a map transcript and sketch the layout from the words alone. Then compare with the real map.
3. Learn the pairs: left/right, north/south, east/west, in front of/behind, before/beyond, near side/far side. Speed with these is what the task rewards.

Key points

• Before listening, find the starting point, the compass and the labelled landmarks.
• Know the language of position and movement thoroughly.
• East is right, west is left; ‘left’ and ‘right’ depend on which way the speaker is facing.
• Places are described in question order; the name of the place tells you where you are.
• Wait for the whole description: the first location mentioned may be a distractor.

IELTS is a registered trademark of the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. PrepFreely is not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by them.