I believe you can see the ones you have already collected via the Key Items list. You might have to scroll to the very bottom though.
As you mentioned, your rank is based on the number of primers collected:
Rank Primers
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Al Bhed Hujela (Novice) 1
Al Bhed Pakehhan (Beginner) 4
Al Bhed Typpman (Dabbler) 7
Al Bhed Maynhan (Learner) 10
Al Bhed Cbaygan (Speaker) 13
Al Bhed Hydeja (Native) 16
Al Bhed Unydun (Orator) 19
Al Bhed Medanyde (Literati) 22
Al Bhed Sycdan (Master) 26
And just for information, Al Bhed Primers XIX, XX, XXI and XXII are miss-able, so be careful if you want to collect them all in one play-through.
Source.