english.now

An open-source language learning platform built to help learners practice real English in realistic situations. The project combines an AI-powered web experience, a mobile app, and a shared TypeScript backend so new features can ship across platforms without duplicating business logic.

Why this project exists

Most language products are either too generic, too game-like, or too disconnected from real conversation. This project focuses on practical learning:

• AI conversations for speaking practice
• instant feedback on grammar and fluency
• pronunciation support
• vocabulary review and spaced repetition
• adaptive lessons and progress tracking
• shared infrastructure for web, mobile, auth, payments, email, and data

Highlights

• Cross-platform: web app, API server, and Expo mobile app in one monorepo
• Type-safe end to end: TypeScript, tRPC, shared packages, and Zod validation
• AI-assisted learning: OpenAI-powered practice flows and translation features
• Speech and audio workflows: pronunciation and speaking support
• Production-oriented foundation: auth, database, email, storage, and payments already wired in
• Designed for iteration: Turborepo + pnpm workspace structure for faster development

Tech stack

Apps

• Web: React 19, Vite, TanStack Start, Tailwind CSS
• Server: Hono, tRPC, Node.js, Better Auth
• Mobile: Expo, React Native, Expo Router

Shared infrastructure

• Database: PostgreSQL + Drizzle ORM
• Validation: Zod
• Tooling: pnpm, Turborepo, Biome, TypeScript
• Integrations: OpenAI, Deepgram, Cloudflare R2, Paddle, AutoSend

Monorepo structure

.
├── apps/
│   ├── web/       # React + TanStack Start frontend
│   ├── server/    # Hono + tRPC API server
│   └── native/    # Expo / React Native app
├── packages/
│   ├── api/       # Shared API routers, services, and domain logic
│   ├── auth/      # Better Auth configuration and auth helpers
│   ├── db/        # Drizzle schema, DB client, and migration scripts
│   ├── env/       # Shared environment validation
│   ├── email/     # Email helpers and templates
│   └── i18n/      # Translation tooling and dictionaries
└── package.json   # Root scripts and workspace configuration

How the pieces fit together

• apps/web and apps/native consume shared code from packages/*
• apps/server exposes the backend API and integrates auth, payments, AI, storage, and background workflows
• packages/api keeps business logic and API contracts reusable across clients
• packages/db, packages/auth, and packages/env centralize the sensitive parts of the stack so behavior stays consistent everywhere

Getting started

Prerequisites

Before running the project locally, make sure you have:

• Node.js 20+
• pnpm 10.2+
• PostgreSQL
• Optional accounts or API keys for the integrations you want to test locally

1) Install dependencies

pnpm install

2) Create environment files

Use the example files as your starting point:

• apps/server/.env.example
• apps/web/.env.example
• apps/native/.env.example

cp apps/server/.env.example apps/server/.env
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env
cp apps/native/.env.example apps/native/.env

At minimum, you will usually need:

• a PostgreSQL connection string
• Better Auth secrets and base URL
• the web and native app server URLs

If you want full feature parity locally, also configure the optional integrations for AI, storage, email, and payments.

3) Initialize the database

pnpm db:push

This applies the current Drizzle schema to your configured database.

4) Start the development environment

pnpm dev

Typical local targets:

• Web app: Vite dev server from apps/web (configured on port 3001)
• API server: Hono server from apps/server (commonly port 3000)
• Mobile app: Expo dev server from apps/native

If you only need one surface, you can run it independently:

pnpm dev:web
pnpm dev:server
pnpm dev:native

Useful commands

Command	What it does
pnpm dev	Run all app dev tasks through Turbo
pnpm build	Build the workspace
pnpm check-types	Run TypeScript checks across the workspace
pnpm dev:web	Start only the web app
pnpm dev:server	Start only the API server
pnpm dev:native	Start only the Expo app
pnpm db:push	Push the Drizzle schema to the database
pnpm db:generate	Generate Drizzle migrations
pnpm db:migrate	Run Drizzle migrations
pnpm db:studio	Open Drizzle Studio
pnpm check	Run Biome with --write across the repo

Validation

There is no single repo-wide test command set up yet, so use the smallest relevant check for the area you changed:

• Server changes: pnpm -F server check-types
• Web changes: pnpm -F web build
• Shared package changes: pnpm check-types

Note that pnpm check is a write command because it runs biome check --write ..

Development workflow

1. Make your changes in the relevant app or package.
2. Run targeted validation for the code you touched.
3. Keep shared logic in packages/* when it is used by more than one app.
4. Be careful with auth, env, and database changes because they affect multiple surfaces.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

If you want to open a PR, a good default workflow is:

1. Fork the project and create a feature branch.
2. Keep changes focused and easy to review.
3. Run the relevant validation commands before submitting.
4. Include setup notes or screenshots when changing developer experience or UI.

Areas where contributions are especially valuable:

• learner experience and onboarding
• lesson generation and feedback quality
• mobile polish
• documentation
• tests and CI coverage
• accessibility and internationalization

Environment notes

A large part of the system is driven by server-side environment variables. The server env controls important integrations such as:

• database access
• Better Auth
• Cloudflare R2 storage
• OpenAI and Deepgram
• AutoSend email delivery
• Paddle billing

If something fails during local setup, the first thing to verify is usually the relevant .env file.

Built with

This repository started from the excellent Better-T-Stack and has been expanded into a multi-app product architecture.