TikTok ban fuels Duolingo’s fortune

The TikTok ban in the US will go into effect from 19 January. To find a new home to spend their free time, millions of US users are adapting by switching to another Chinese social platform REDnote, also known as Xiaohongshu. 

The switch from TikTok to REDnote is giving a boost to the popular language learning app, Duolingo's fortune — the reason behind this is that Rednote's interface includes texts in Mandarin. 

Rather than using VPNs to bypass the TikTok ban, over 700 million TikTok users have embraced REDnote — which is leading to some unexpected cultural exchanges, including Americans helping Chinese users with their English.

REDnote, designed primarily for a Mandarin-speaking audience, has spurred a 216% rise in US Mandarin learners on Duolingo compared to last year. Downloads of the language app have also surged 36%, with Duolingo climbing app store rankings, says a report from TechCrunch.

Duolingo has responded to the trend with humorous posts on social media, including a TikTok video featuring its green owl mascot moving to China, which has gained over half a million likes. Another video teaching Mandarin phrases for "TikTok refugees" has also gone viral.