Usage tips

[gera.livejournal.com]

For the benefit of the learners I'll repeat here a comment that several people found useful (it's gone along with the post).
The recent incident may be a good opportunity to learn some subtleties of Russian usage so that you'll avoid inadvertent offense and confusion.

In Russia the word "русский" in reference to a person usually implies ethnicity. So, words like "не русский", "не для русских" have an offensive ring. Think of something like "no Hispanics". The intent may be "not for native Spanish speakers" but the way it's stated it may sound offensive.

The words "россиянин", "россияне" may be a good alternative only in some contexts. For example, "президента поддерживают X% россиян". (The word "русских" here would imply that citizens of other ethnicities are not counted).
On the other hand, you wouldn't want to ask "Как употребляют это слово россияне?", unless you have a reason to believe that native Russian speakers elsewhere use the word differently (normally it's not the case).
Basically, you wouldn't use "россияне" to imply "native Russian speakers" pretty much for the same reason you wouldn't say "the British" instead of "native English speakers". A lot of native Russian speakers live in the former Soviet republics and other countries.
So, when you want to refer to "native Russian speakers" you should say "носители (русского) языка", "русскоговорящие", "русскоязычные".

There is a remarkable exception, however, that you should be aware of. Russian speaking emigrants outside of the former Soviet Union (in the US, Canada, Israel, Germany, Britain, Australia etc) do use the word "русские" to imply "native Russian speakers" regardless of their ethnicity in reference to fellow emigrants. This usage is actually borrowed from the surrounding cultures. Keep in mind, that it strikes people living in the former USSR as odd. This oddity has been widely mocked, sometimes in offensive ways.
You may, however, encounter this usage in your own country if you get to hang out with Russian speakers.

Comments

Re: More usage tips

[evaluna68.livejournal.com]

I knew a Latvian family with 4 kids about my age, all of whom spoke Latvian fluently. But there is a Latvian Saturday school here, which helps. I'm not sure when the family arrived in the U.S., but I got the impression that the kids were the first generation born here, which would have made it the late 1960s or earlier.