With the U.S. set to ban TikTok on January 19, millions of American users are switching to a Chinese app called RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu).
The ban will remove TikTok from U.S. app stores and stop it from working unless users install a VPN. Instead of trying to bypass the ban, many have embraced RedNote, leading to a surprising rise in Americans learning Mandarin.
RedNote’s default language is Mandarin Chinese, which has motivated a surge in users turning to language-learning apps like Duolingo.
The app reported a 216% increase in new U.S. learners studying Mandarin compared to last year, with a noticeable spike in mid-January as more people moved to RedNote. Duolingo even joked on social media, “Oh so NOW you’re learning Mandarin,” sharing videos encouraging “TikTok refugees” to pick up the language.
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