Listening · Unit 3: Core strategies
L25: Map and plan labelling
Target band 6.5 to 7
Maps are the question type students fear most in IELTS Listening. You look at a plan of a park or a building, and a speaker starts walking you around it fast. But maps are really about one thing: a small set of direction words. Learn those words, learn to orient yourself, and maps become fair and predictable.
Why this matters
Map questions usually come in a block of five or six. If you lose your way early, you can lose the whole block. If you follow well, you can get all of them. That's a big swing in your score.
Step 1: Orient yourself before the audio
- Find the starting point. Look for an entrance, a gate, or "You are here".
- Look for a compass or the word North. Some speakers say "to the north of" instead of "to the left of".
- Read every label that's already there. These are your landmarks.
- Look at the letters on the map (A, B, C...). Notice where they are compared to the landmarks.
Step 2: Learn the direction words
| Position words | Movement words |
|---|---|
| opposite | go straight ahead |
| next to, beside | turn left or right |
| between | go past |
| in front of, behind | continue along |
| on the corner of | take the first left |
| at the end of | cross the road or bridge |
| in the middle of | go up or down the stairs |
| to the north, south, east or west of | follow the path round |
| just before, just after | when you reach... |
| across from | clockwise, anticlockwise |
Practise these until you understand them as fast as Bangla words.
Step 3: Follow with your finger
While the speaker talks, move your finger or pen on the map. Don't try to picture it in your head. Move.
A worked example
Imagine this simple map. The main gate is at the bottom. A path goes straight up from the gate to a fountain in the middle. To the left of the path, there are two boxes labelled A and B. To the right, there are boxes C and D. A and C are near the gate. B and D are near the fountain.
"As you come in through the main gate, the first building on your right is the ticket office. Keep walking up the path, and just before you reach the fountain, you'll see the café on your left."
- Ticket office: first on the right near the gate. That's C.
- Café: on the left, just before the fountain. That's B.
Common traps
- Left and right change when you turn around. Always imagine you're walking, facing the direction the speaker describes.
- "Opposite" is about facing. If the library is opposite the café, they face each other across a path or road.
- Changes over time. "The old gift shop is now the first aid room." Label the new one.
Try it yourself
Using the same map:
"The toilets are directly opposite the café, on the other side of the path."
Where are the toilets?
Show the answers
D. The café is B, on the left near the fountain. Opposite it, on the right near the fountain, is D.
Honest note
Some people find maps hard in any language. If that's you, give maps extra practice time. Do every map question from every Cambridge book. Your brain will learn the patterns.
Your task today
Draw a simple map of your home or your street. Describe a route from the door to the kitchen, or from your gate to the main road, out loud in English using five direction words.