All you need to know about Map Completion in IELTS Listening

Map completion or diagram labeling is a question type that you are bound to encounter in IELTS listening exam. While technically such a question type can appear in any 4 sections the chances of the question type appearing in the first 2 sections are quite high.

Here are some tips and useful information that can help you attempt map completion question types successfully.

Read the instructions carefully
Just like most questions, be sure of what the question seeks. For example, whether the information to be added is a word or a number can make a big difference between a right and wrong answer. Knowing what to look for is the first step and many students often end up looking for wrong information.

Look at two questions at one time
A common mistake many students commit is to look at each question alone on the map. A better strategy to save time and get the right answer is to look for 2 questions at the same time. For example, if a map has built A on the left of the road and building B on the right side of the road along with a landmark, looking at the landmark can give you ample clues for Building A and B to devise the correct answer. You can adopt this strategy in practice tests to refine your map completion skills faster.

Use short notes to break down too much information
A map or diagram labeling is more likely to have detailed information. The diagram alone can ask 7 or 8 questions. Now, this also means that you will be listening for 7-8 clues for each answer when listening to the audio. This increases your chances of losing out on missing any important clue.

Practice map completion/labeling
Eventually, it will all come down to ample practice and without practice, you are unlikely to follow the smaller steps to ensure you find the correct answer in time. I will suggest you look at some of the IELTS Listening Sample Tests listed here. These have been tried and tested by many students to enhance their labeling and map completion skill.