Looming TikTok ban sparks surge in people learning to speak Mandarin
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TikTok will soon be banned from the world's largest social media market, leaving millions of its users without their favourite app for "doomscrolling" and procrastination. Surprisingly, many of its users have decided to download a Chinese social media app in response, with language-learning app Duolingo reporting a 216 per cent increase in people learning Mandarin Chinese as the ban looms.
Americans are rushing to Duolingo to learn the language after downloading TikTok's Chinese sister app RedNote - ahead of the January 19 ban which will take effect in all 50 states of the US unless it is stopped by the Supreme Court or finds an American buyer.
If neither of these scenarios occur, the hugely popular social media app will be removed from app stores and will eventually stop working on users' devices unless they install a VPN client. So, to dodge the ban, many are turning to RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, which is essentially the Chinese version of TikTok - both owned by the same company.
Over 700 million users have reportedly migrated to the other app, sparking a cultural exchange between Americans and their country's geopolitical adversary, China. RedNote operates similarly to TikTok, but its algorithm is Chinese, meaning much of the content that appears on user profiles is in Mandarin.
And, with an influx of more Americans, many of the Chinese using the app are trying to learn English, reports the Mirror US. A surge of Americans have turned to Duolingo, the popular language-learning app known for its slightly pushy green owl, to take crash courses in Mandarin. The company humorously responded to the 216% increase on X: "Oh so NOW you're learning mandarin," they posted.
