Language learning apps are making a huge shift; long gone are the days of repeating mundane phrases. We are now in the era of gamified simulations, and it’s all thanks to AI.
How does it work? The more you learn, the more your in-game character levels up. This mirrors other viral apps like Coconote AI(turns your class notes into a “brainrot” video) and Voidpet(transforms your emotions into virtual pets).
In this issue, we’re covering the rise of gamified language apps and how they distribute across TikTok and Reels.
Pingo AI
This might be the newest language learning app earning consistent revenue. Founded by college student Michael Xing in December 2024. It’s (allegedly) at $25,000 MRR.
He posted this on LinkedIn, celebrating the quick progress of his app:
Michael moved quickly with his distribution tactics and has made 13,150,452 views in just 5 months.
The setup:
• 12 accounts
• 4 on Instagram (2 active)
• 8 on TikTok (6 active)
• 91.8% of all views come from TikTok
The format: All ambassadors post selfie vlog content focused on a specific language.
These three accounts stand out:
1) tt@pingoai.korean
The most viewed account focuses on learning Korean, and it has 3.6M views so far.
Organizing ambassador accounts by language isn’t new. Teuida, an older language app, saw that “easiest ways to learn Korean” videos went viral the most.
The strategy: Each video features the ambassador holding an iPad, engaging in a simple dialogue with the AI teacher.
His most viral hooks:
| Why is Korean so confusing ???? | 1,600,000 views |
| Practicing making friends in Korea | 403,000 views |
| The best way to learn a language is to learn like how a baby would ???? | 393,300 views |
| Day 1 of learning Korean from scratch by only speaking with an AI until I’m conversational (minimal English allowed) | 271,200 views |
| Seeing if I can check out at a Korean 7/11 | 124,900 views |
2) tt@pingoai.chinese
The strategy: Same format at the Korean account, just with Chinese.
The two most viral videos in this account, from January (1.1M and 131.9K views), capitalized on the TikTok ban hype with hooks focused on using AI to learn Chinese for RedNote.
Both accounts are struggling with consistency. The first account posted its last video in early April, and the second has been inactive since mid-March.
Our hypothesis: they’re gradually shifting to a mass, faceless content strategy, which is reflected in their third-most-viral account.
3) tt@hangulbeartips
Spot the difference between this and the first two accounts:
• Not branded
• No mention of Pingo (bio: “sharing Korean study tips!! Let’s get fluent in 2025 :)”)
• 85% faceless, #StudyTok style
This account has an impressive engagement rate of 19.07% (compared to the 6-9% average of all others they run on TikTok).
The strategy: Posts are split between carousels and videos. Shows her desk set-up with recordings of a tablet/laptop where she demos various language tools.
The secret is: she never discloses their names. This sparks endless comments asking about “this app” or “that tool.”
Although she mentions several apps, Pingo AI is the focus in most posts, and the one she references more often in comments.
Pro-tip: To build a strong niche account, gather hacks, tips, and processes that genuinely help your audience. This account provides real value for Korean learners. Plus, sharing other tools gives you better credibility than just promoting your own app.
LingoLooper
This app started in March 2024 and had a slow TikTok debut.
LingoLooper is an AI language learning game simulation where you interact with characters and build relationships. Think of it as the language learning version of SIMs/Animal Crossing.
This year, they shifted their TikTok strategy and fully embraced the new (and still experimental) AI UGC trend.
What changed: The official brand account, tt@lingolooper, switched from reposting ambassadors and faceless app demos to adding a small AI-generated clip at the start.
The format:
• Female creator looking at the camera, shocked, hand over mouth
• Most UGC creators “film” inside a car
• After 2-3 seconds, it cuts to an app demo
• No voiceover or AI narration (besides random, instrumental sound)
• Transition to a human hand interacting with a tablet screen
Videos last just enough to bring the “human” feel to them, without giving the viewers time to question if it’s AI-generated. Many never realize…
The hooks: (disclaimer: all videos seem to be slightly boosted with paid ads).
| why did i find out about this 3 years into learning a new language ???? | 2.6M views |
| 3 years of learning a new language and I just found this… BRUH ???? | 525K views |
| OK i just found the PERFECT app to beat my foreign language speaking anxiety ???????? | 337K views |
| Why am I finding this 3 years after learning a language? ???? | 664K views |
The approach: Mixing formats, with faceless and UGC. Posting AI every 3-4 videos. They’re focused on growing a small network of ambassadors.
The most viral account is an interesting one, tt@oohlalangue, who posted her first video in November 2024.
Her strategy: shares how Duolingo didn’t work for her learning French, and why Lingo Looper is much better.
Early on, all her videos focused on learning French, sharing personal experiences, and tips. She branded herself as “the real Emily in Paris”.
Including her most viral video yet, which was only her 4th post, starts with “how I learned French in 2 months”. It’s a Day 1 vs. Day 75 comparison where you can see that her speaking improves dramatically.
She says in French, “ je parle avec plus fort” which is grammatically and contextually incorrect.
This is a clever engagement farming hack: Purposefully saying the wrong thing after just “bragging” about her progress triggers commenters looking to correct.
Lately, she hasn’t been posting about LingoLooper and is just focusing on her own content. Perhaps her contract ended.
On March 25th, she replied to a comment with this video. The truth is: She actually did not learn French in 2 months (it was her first language). But, she claims Lingo Looper as the “only tool which helped her unlock her French” and regain fluency.
Our idea: Imagine if they’d built an account in-house and hired someone to make custom expat content. It’s a smart way to hook viewers into a storyline of moving abroad, making friends, dealing with culture shocks, while subtly plugging the app.
Their second ambassador (tt@lecarolineplus) bio links to LingoLooper and is creating similar content, but for Portuguese (BR) to English:
15 videos outperformed the account median (8.2K) by at least 5x. All views are organic.
These are her best-performing hooks (translated from PT to EN):
| Hook | Views |
| “3 things you need to do to become fluent in English in 2025 ????????” | 1,300,000 |
| “The truth about learning English with Duolingo ????????” | 1,200,000 |
| “This is what will make you become fluent in English in 2025” | 508,500 |
| “ “What are your favorite methods to learn English?” “ | 437,000 |
| “practicing English with the gringoes who make fun of my accent” | 248,400 |
| “English study routine that will save your life and your time this year ???????? ????✅ | 207,500 |
| “I found the perfect conversation app ???????? ???????? ????” | 151,900 |
| “learning English is boring and difficult until you understand that cultural immersion is actually much more important and effective than memorizing phrases and studying grammar. when you start having fun watching memes, consuming music and movies without moderation or even practicing speaking with the lingolooper everything becomes much easier and more fun.” | 114,900 |
| “What I’d do to learn English in 2025 ???????? ???????? ????️” | 109,100 |
| “i just wish i could speak italian to use this audio but apparently 360 days of duolingo WASN’T ENOUGH” | 95,700 |
| “best ways to practice speaking in english when you’re shy and introverted:” | 62,000 |
These are the main accounts, but don’t forget you can check all of them on Shortimize:
Lingo Legend
Lastly, we have Lingo Legend, which was released in 2022. It’s a sort of “choose-your-own-adventure” approach to learning languages (users can pick between 9).
They had a solid 20,0000 monthly downloads and $20K MRR, and until recently, they avoided the TikTok hype.
In April, things shifted after hiring their first ambassadors, with one quickly passing the main account views.
tt@lizzy.legend1 did 748K views in her first 50 days of TikTok marketing.
Her approach: Selfie-style videos with very long hooks, which is something we see going viral more and more often.
Our tip: For long hooks, every word counts. The more you say, the more you reveal about how you understand your audience. To put it simply, more words = more chances of connecting or missing the mark.
These hooks thrive on sounding natural, and that won’t happen unless you speak your audience’s language and know their culture.
Her best hooks:
• #1 → 105.9K views – “GAMER GIRLIES WHO LOVE LEARNING!!!!! this is a language learning rpg you learn a language of your choice by fighting monsters, taking care of a farm, and talking to cute animals!!! i love this game sm i highly recommend”
• #2 → 95.4K views – “I love when educational games are fun and cute cuz uwu im learning japanese through a cozy rpg talking to animals?? fighting monsters?? i’m obsessed”
• #3 → 31K views – “no u don’t understand im learning japanese through an rpg while fighting monsters, planting crops, talking to animals, and even seeing other players it’s so cool”
• #4 → 28.7K views – “GAMER GIRLIES WHO LOVE LEARNING!!!! this is a language learning rpg you learn a language of your choice by fighting monsters, taking care of a farm, and talking to cute animals!!! i love this game sm i highly recommend”
• #5 → 18.2K views – “NORMALIZE fun educational games bc idc!! i’m learning spanish by fighting monsters and planting crops on my cozy lil farm”
• #6 → 15.8K views – “i love when cozy games are cute and educational cuz uwu im learning a whole new language while fighting monsters and petting cute animals”
Their second most viral ambassador holds the top-viewed video (533.1K). While she had one banger video, her other videos appear stuck in the 500-view jail.
She’s still using the same long hook strategy, and if it blew up once, why wouldn’t it happen again?
Bottom line: it’s never been easier and more fun to learn another language. It’s also never been easier to grow your app on TikTok. No matter what your mother tongue is, as long as you are fluent in the language of your audience and have a strong hook strategy, you will be okay. 🙂
See you on the FYP,
Social Growth Engineers team
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