Learn Hardcore Hausa: A jami'a ina so in koyi harsuna daga ƙasashe da dama. - At university I want to learn languages from several countries.

a is a very common preposition in Hausa meaning “in / at / on” (location without movement).
You use a before a place to say you are located there:
- a gida – at home
- a makaranta – at school
- a jami'a – at (a) university

If you wanted to emphasize movement toward a place, you would typically use zuwa (“to, towards”) instead, e.g. zuwa jami'a – “to the university.”

Is jami'a definite or indefinite here? Could I say a jami'ar instead?

jami'a by itself is indefinite: it can mean “a university” or “(in general) at university.”

If you add the -r definite ending, you get jami'ar:

a jami'a – at a university / at university (in general)
a jami'ar – at the university (a specific one already known in the context)

Both are grammatically correct; the choice depends on whether you mean some (unspecified) university or a specific, known university.

What is the function of the apostrophe in jami'a?

The apostrophe marks a glottal stop (a brief closure in the throat, like the break in the middle of “uh‑oh”).

jami'a is pronounced roughly ja‑mee‑ʔa, not just ja‑mee‑a as one smooth sequence.
Hausa uses ' to show this sound, especially in Arabic loanwords like jami'a (from Arabic jāmiʿa, “university”).

So the apostrophe is not a punctuation mark here; it is a letter representing a consonant sound.

What exactly does ina so mean? Is it “I want” or “I like”?

Ina so can cover both “I want” and “I like”, depending on context.

There are two very common patterns:

ina son + [noun]
- Ina son shayi. – I like / I want tea.
  Here so behaves like a noun (“liking”), and -n links it to the thing you like.
ina so in + [verb]
- Ina so in koyi harsuna. – I want to learn languages.
  Here so is followed by a verb clause, so it works more like English “want (to)”. You normally do not add -n before in in this pattern.

In your sentence, ina so in koyi… clearly means “I want to learn …”, not simply “I like …”.

What does the little word in do in ina so in koyi?

in is a subject pronoun in the subjunctive mood, meaning roughly “that I (should)”.

After verbs of desire, intention, ability, etc., Hausa introduces the following verb clause with a special set of pronouns:

ina so in koyi – I want (that) I learn
yana so ya koyi – he wants (that) he learns
muna so mu koyi – we want (that) we learn

So in your sentence:

ina so – I want
in koyi – that I (should) learn

You normally cannot drop in here; × ina so koyi harsuna is ungrammatical.

What form of the verb is koyi, and how does it relate to koyo / koya?

In everyday usage here, koyi is simply the verb “to learn” in the form used after subjunctive pronouns like in:

Ina so in koyi Hausa. – I want to learn Hausa.
Zan koyi Hausa. – I will learn Hausa.

You will also see related forms:

ina koyo Hausa – I am learning Hausa (ongoing process; koyo acts like a verbal noun “learning”)
koya – is more often used with meanings related to “teach” (especially in forms like koyar da – “to teach”).

For a beginner, it’s safe to treat koyi here simply as “learn” in the “I should / I will learn” type of environment (after in, zan, etc.), and koyo as the “I am learning / the learning of” form.

How is harsuna formed, and what is the singular?

The singular is harshe – “language, tongue.”

The plural harsuna is formed by changing the internal vowel and adding -na:

harshe – language
harsuna – languages

Some examples:

Harshen Turanci – the English language
Harshen Faransanci – the French language
Ina son harsuna. – I like languages.

In your sentence, harsuna is plural because you are talking about more than one language.

Can I change the word order, for example say Ina so in koyi harsuna a jami'a instead of starting with A jami'a?

Yes. Both are possible:

A jami'a ina so in koyi harsuna…
Ina so in koyi harsuna a jami'a…

The difference is mainly one of focus and style:

Starting with A jami'a highlights the location first: “At university, I want to learn …”
Putting a jami'a later sounds more like: “I want to learn languages at university.”

Hausa often places things like time or place at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis or to set the scene, but the meaning remains essentially the same.

What does daga ƙasashe da dama literally mean, and how does da dama work?

Literally, daga ƙasashe da dama is:

daga – from
ƙasashe – countries
da dama – many, quite a few, several

So the whole phrase is “from many countries.”

da dama is an idiomatic expression that works like a post‑noun quantifier:

mutane da dama – many people
littattafai da dama – many books
ƙasashe da dama – many countries

Here da is not functioning as the simple “and”; it is part of a fixed expression meaning “many / plenty of.”

What is the singular of ƙasashe, and does ƙasa just mean “country”?

The singular is ƙasa, which is a very common word with several related meanings:

ƙasa – ground, soil, land, country
ƙasashe – countries

Context tells you which meaning is intended. In ƙasashe da dama, the meaning is clearly “countries”.

For “many countries” you can also say:

ƙasashe da dama – many countries (quite a few)
ƙasashe da yawa – many countries (a lot, numerous)

Both are common; da yawa is a bit more transparent for learners (“with much/many”), da dama is more idiomatic.

How do you pronounce the letter ƙ in ƙasashe, and how is it different from k?

ƙ represents an ejective k‑sound ([kʼ]) – a tenser, “popping” k made with a small burst of air from the glottis.

k – a plain k sound, like English k in “cat”
ƙ – a stronger, glottalized k, with more tension in the throat

For many learners it is enough at first to aim for a clear, strong k for ƙ and a slightly softer k for k. Native speakers will still understand you, but being aware that k ≠ ƙ is important, because they can distinguish words:

ƙasa (with ƙ) – country / ground
kasa (with k) – a different word (for example, “to fail” in some forms)

So in ƙasashe, use the stronger, ejective k‑sound at the start.

What tense or aspect does Ina so in koyi… express? Is it present, future, or something else?

Ina so in koyi… is structurally present (literally “I am wanting that I learn…”), but in meaning it typically refers to a current desire about a future or general action.

In English you would normally translate it as:

“I want to learn…”
or, in context, “I would like to learn…”

It does not by itself say when exactly you will start learning; it just states a present wish or intention. The future idea is supplied by context (e.g., “at university” implies a plan for your studies).