Duolingo, the mobile app that teaches users new languages, has reported a surge of 216%, primarily among US users. The language they’re trying to learn? Chinese.
The spike in users learning Chinese on the app has been attributed to the US TikTok ban that is set to go into effect this Sunday. To summarise a long, ongoing story: the app’s parent company, ByteDance, has until 19 January 2025 to divest or sell the US portions of its operations or face an outright ban. The situation is dire; ByteDance is reportedly attempting to sell off its US operations to X and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk. However, the platform formerly known as Twitter has denied any such discussion had taken place, describing it as “pure fiction”.
Learning Mandarin out of spite? You're not alone.
We’ve seen a ~216% growth in new Chinese (Mandarin) learners in the US compared to this time last year. https://t.co/9hzwBxfTgD pic.twitter.com/qWM9f5oFYA
— Duolingo (@duolingo) January 15, 2025
In response to the looming ban, more than 700 million TikTok users have shifted over to another Chinese social video platform, RedNote, otherwise known as Xiaohongshu, in what Duolingo describe as a move being done “out of spite”. The problem with RedNote is that, at current, and English-friendly version of the app doesn’t yet exist – the default language of the app is Mandarin.
Duolingo even went so far as to post a joke about the situation on X. “Oh so NOW you’re learning Mandarin”, the message read.
oh so NOW you’re learning mandarin
— Duolingo (@duolingo) January 14, 2025
In hindsight, though, the mass migration of US TikTok users signals a willingness by said users to continue using an app that provides a similar service and culture to the ByteDance-owned app, the fear of their personal data possibly being collected by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) be damned.
(Source: TechCrunch, X [1] [2])
