Duolingo has seen a surge in U.S. Mandarin learners as TikTok users explore Chinese social app RedNote amid a looming ban.

As "TikTok refugees" flood to Chinese site RedNote, language learning app Duolingo has reported an over 200% spike in people learning Mandarin.

Duolingo shares have jumped this week, as the number of Americans learning Mandarin on the app has soared 216%. That's as China's RedNote is now the most downloaded free app on Apple's App Store ahead of the TikTok ban.

TikTok U.S. users have been learning Chinese on Duolingo in increasing numbers amid their adoption of a Chinese social app called RedNote ahead of the

Millions are joining RedNote ahead of the TikTok ban. But the app’s default language is Mandarin. “Oh so NOW you’re learning mandarin,” Duolingo tweeted on Monday.

"First of all, the Chinese are so nice, they're so sweet and so welcoming. They've over here teaching us Mandarin."

Many Americans are joining RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, as a potential TikTok ban looms in the US. As they hop from TikTok to RedNote, some of the so-called TikTok refugees are learning Mandarin to bridge the language divide on the Chinese app.

As many Americans flock to RedNote ahead of a possible TikTok ban, Duolingo and Drops have seen an increase in US users learning Chinese.

The company confirmed to CNBC that there's been a 216% increase in Mandarin learners using the app compared to a year earlier. For context, Spanish, one of the most popular languages on the app, has seen a 40% increase over the same period, Duolingo said.

The language-learning app Duolingo has seen a surprising trend emerge, the closer we get to the TikTok ban -- there's been a 216% spike in US users learning Mandarin compared to this time last year.

Americans are running to the language app to learn Mandarin as they flood Chinese app RedNote in response to the looming TikTok ban.

Duolingo capitalized on the sudden interest in Mandarin learning tied to the TikTok ban and RedNote’s rise. Similarly, small businesses can monitor cultural shifts—whether through social media trends, microtrends, news, or industry developments—and adapt their messaging, offerings or campaigns to meet consumer and customer new interests.