# Benkyo Now – Learn English — CEFR Vocab, Reading & Listen > CEFR Vocab, Reading & Listen (iPhone/iPad app by Matthias Frey.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/benkyo-now-learn-english/id6797872072 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Matthias Frey](https://appshunter.io/developer/6796636138) - Category: Education, Travel - Price: Free - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.0 · 7 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2026-08-31 - Data updated: 2026-10-16 ## What is Benkyo Now? Benkyo Now is an English study companion built for Japanese speakers — a complete toolkit for building vocabulary and listening skill, entirely on your device. STUDY & LISTEN Review your word list with SM-2 spaced repetition — the same scheduling algorithm Anki is built on. Switch to Listen mode for AI-generated English conversations read aloud by on-device text-to-speech, with an English-only toggle to hide the Japanese translation when you're ready to test yourself. READ Drop in any text or document and tap any word for an instant definition. Lookups check the built-in offline CEFR dictionary first, falling back to Apple's on-device Translation framework — never a server — so it works on a plane, on the subway, anywhere. TRANSCRIBE Record a conversation, a lecture, or a podcast clip, and Benkyo Now transcribes it on-device with Apple's Speech framework, then scans the transcript against the CEFR dictionary to surface vocabulary at your level — ready to add straight to your word list. WORDS Your whole list travels with you: export and import as CSV, including decks from other apps like AnkiApp. Imported words get matched against the offline dictionary to fill in readings, CEFR level, and part of speech automatically. REAL CEFR LEVELS Word selection, levels, and parts of speech come from the CEFR-J Wordlist (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) — the complete A1–B2 list, plus a curated C1–C2 set. Nearly 7,750 words in total. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no analytics, no ads, and no network calls anywhere in the app. Recordings, transcripts, and your word list never leave your device — including the tap-to-define fallback, which runs entirely through Apple's on-device Translation framework. Optional local reminders let you know when reviews are due — no server involved there either. Whether you're preparing for TOEIC or Eiken, building vocabulary for work, or just want to understand more of what you hear, Benkyo Now keeps the whole process private, offline, and under your control. ## Is Benkyo Now safe? Not enough ratings yet to assess Benkyo Now. ## Is Benkyo Now legit? Benkyo Now – Learn English appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Benkyo Now is 65 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.0 — 2026-10-12 Study reminders are fixed ### 1.9 — 2026-09-18 - Edit words by clicking on the word-card for 3 seconds - bug fixing for word translation - bug fixing with reminders ### 1.8 — 2026-09-13 Documents can be shared from other apps through the "share" function ### 1.6 — 2026-09-09 - New Settings: max number of words per day and max number of new words - Input from url is now possible - words were reclassified - Notifications appear even if the app isn't opened for up to 14 days ### 1.5 — 2026-08-31 Fixed the study-reminder spam by capping notifications to twice a day; pinch zoom fixed grouping of words to study ## More apps by Matthias Frey - [Ben-Kyo](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ben-kyo/id6796636136) - [pick-l](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pick-l/id6799047841) - [Hong Kong Mahjong Counter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hong-kong-mahjong-counter/id6812150781) All apps by Matthias Frey: https://appshunter.io/developer/6796636138 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-16.*