As hundreds of thousands of U.S. TikTok customers flock to Chinese language-language social app RedNote in gentle of a doable TikTok ban, extra People are attempting to be taught Chinese language than ever.
Duolingo, a language studying app utilized by hundreds of thousands, reported on Wednesday that it had seen a 216% progress in new Mandarin Chinese language learners within the U.S. this week in comparison with final 12 months.
“Studying Mandarin out of spite?” Duolingo acknowledged in a submit on X. “You are not alone.”
Studying Mandarin out of spite? You are not alone.
We have seen a ~216% progress in new Chinese language (Mandarin) learners within the US in comparison with this time final 12 months. https://t.co/9hzwBxfTgD pic.twitter.com/qWM9f5oFYA
— Duolingo (@duolingo) January 15, 2025
The natural push to be taught Mandarin arrives at a time when a Chinese language-language app is burgeoning in reputation. Reuters reported on Thursday that in simply at some point, from Sunday to Monday, almost 3 million new customers joined RedNote.
The app is a Chinese language TikTok various that features quick movies, pictures, procuring, and extra. Whereas TikTok is owned by ByteDance, RedNote is owned by Xingyin Info Know-how.
Information obtained by Reuters from analysis firm Sensor Tower confirmed that U.S. downloads of RedNote had been up 200% year-over-year. As of Wednesday, RedNote was the prime social app on the Google Play retailer, up from its place of quantity 162 final 12 months.
RedNote’s inflow of recent customers, and Duolingo’s uptick in Mandarin Chinese language learners, can each be defined by TikTok customers in search of options when confronted with a doable TikTok ban.
A U.S. legislation handed in April ordered ByteDance to promote TikTok by Jan. 19 or face a ban on the platform. Although the Supreme Court docket may halt the legislation earlier than the Jan. 19 deadline, as of Thursday, it had not but launched a call.
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TikTok’s 170 million U.S. customers are actually looking for different social media avenues, together with RedNote. The transfer from one Chinese language app to a different is a transparent message that there’s demand within the U.S. for Chinese language social media apps, per TechCrunch.
TikTok acknowledged in a court docket submitting final month {that a} ban would value U.S. creators and small companies an estimated $1.3 billion in a single month.
U.S. use of TikTok was down 2.1% week-over-week forward of the doable ban, all the way down to about 82.2 million day by day energetic customers, in keeping with Reuters.