This article revises existing Russian practices of categorization and procedures in the evaluation of the language situations and the exercising of the language policy. In the center of its analysis are interactions of language and ethnicity, and language and state politics, especially census taking procedures. The revision of such categories as “native language”, “mother tongue”, or “national language” are suggested in favor of more sensitive, situational, multiple approaches which reflect factors of rational choice, “language market”, structural prescriptions, and language repertoire in culturally-complex societies, as well as of historical dynamic language processes. The author argues against rigid connections between language and ethnicity and raises the issue of the rights of linguistic communities, and the support of languages as independent values in a culture of human communications. In the realm of language policy, the article considers language issues in contemporary nation building as well as a balance between official (national) language(s) and ethnic (minority) languages in the public life of countries such as the Russian Federation