“Oh so NOW you’re learning Mandarin,” Duolingo tweeted on Monday.
The timing couldn’t be clearer, as a wave of so-called TikTok refugees scrambled to join the Chinese social app RedNote ahead of TikTok’s looming U.S. ban. The ban, set to take effect on January 19 unless blocked by the Supreme Court, will cut off TikTok from its 170 million American users. But instead of sulking, more than 700 million globally are jumping ship to RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu. For many U.S. users, there’s just one problem: The app’s default language is Mandarin.
Many are now taking a crash course. The popular language-learning app Duolingo reported roughly 216% growth in new Mandarin learning in the U.S. compared to this time last year, with a sharp spike occurring mid-January, just as RedNote started gaining traction. When new users were prompted to answer, “How did you hear about us,” the company reports seeing a corresponding spike in people selecting “TikTok” as their response.
“Me, because I’d rather move to China & learn Mandarin on Duolingo,” the official Duolingo TikTok account posted yesterday. The clip features the company’s green owl mascot, passport in hand, at the airport heading to China. Another video teaching beginner Mandarin phrases includes translations like “Welcome, TikTok refugee” and the tongue-in-cheek “In the clerb we all learn Mandarin.”
TechCrunch reported that growing consumer demand for Duolingo’s language learning courses has also impacted the app’s install base. According to data from app intelligence provider Appfigures, as of January 3 Duolingo experienced a 36% increase in U.S. downloads on the App Store and Google Play combined. This spike suggests users may have explored various Chinese social apps before the surge to join RedNote gained momentum later in the month. Just a week ago, Duolingo ranked in the 40s for both Top Apps (excluding games) and Top Overall (including games). As of now, it has climbed to No. 22 in Top Overall and No. 20 in Top Apps.
Whatever TikTok’s future holds, the RedNote migration is interesting given that one of the main reasons behind TikTok’s ban was fear of Chinese companies hoarding U.S. users’ personal data for nefarious use. As it turns out, not only are people unbothered—they’re rolling out the welcome mat.
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