Élettapasztalat

Élettapasztalat is a Hungarian noun that denotes life experience—the knowledge, skills, and insights a person accumulates through living. The term combines élet (life) and tapasztalat (experience). Unlike knowledge acquired primarily through formal schooling, élettapasztalat is often gained through everyday activities, work, relationships, and adversity, and it is frequently used to describe practical understanding that results from living through events.

In usage, élettapasztalat covers a broad range of phenomena, including professional competence developed outside formal training, coping strategies, and changes in values or worldviews that come with age. It is commonly contrasted with élmény (an event or experience itself) and with tudás (knowledge) gained through study; tapasztalat implies tested or applied knowledge that has been validated by practice. The term thus emphasizes the processed, integrative aspect of learning that occurs over time, rather than isolated incidents.

In scholarly and educational contexts, élettapasztalat appears in discussions of experiential learning and the concept of the lived experience. It is used to foreground personal perspectives in qualitative research and to acknowledge non-formal and informal learning. Some discussions also note the subjectivity and cultural variation in what counts as valid élettapasztalat and how it can be interpreted across different contexts.

See also life experience, experiential learning, non-formal education, lived experience.