English terms describing lifelong education: contemporary context

The article presents a comparative linguistic and socio-pedagogical analysis of English and Russian terms used to describe continuous (lifelong) education. There are three basic frequently used terms functioning in the English language: Lifelong learning, Lifelong education, Continuing (continuous) education. The study showed that two terms (Lifelong learning and Lifelong education) tend to be absolute synonyms in the English texts and have a meaning of «ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons», «potential for professional and personal development through education». The term Continuing education can be a synonym for Lifelong learning, but is most commonly used to refer to all forms of education in the post-secondary stage. The term Continuing professional education corresponds to the Russian «additional professional education». English and Russian terms have semantic differences.