Learn Hardcore Hausa: Tunda kika fara koyon Hausa, kina jin sauƙi fiye da da? - Since you feminine started learning Hausa, do you feel it is easier than before?

It can sometimes carry a light because meaning in other contexts, but here it introduces a time clause: from the moment you started learning Hausa up until now.

You could often expand it to a more explicit phrase like:

Tun lokacin da kika fara koyon Hausa...
Since the time when you started learning Hausa...

Why is it kika fara and not just kin fara?

Kika is a special verb form used in many dependent or focused clauses, like ones introduced by tunda, lokacin da (when), or in relative clauses.

Basic perfective for you (feminine singular): kin fara = you started
Dependent/focused perfective: kika fara = you started (inside a clause linked to something like tunda)

So:

Kin fara koyon Hausa.
You (fem.) have started learning Hausa. (main clause)
Tunda kika fara koyon Hausa, ...
Since you (fem.) started learning Hausa, ... (subordinate time clause)

Historically, kika comes from ki (you, fem.) + -ka (a relative/focus marker), but in modern writing it is treated as a single form.

Is kika masculine or feminine? How would the sentence change if I’m talking to a man?

In this sentence, both kika and kina are feminine singular forms, so the sentence addresses a woman.

kika fara = you (feminine, singular) started
kina jin = you (feminine, singular) are feeling

To talk to a man, change kika → ka (or kaka in relative form) and kina → kana:

Tunda ka fara koyon Hausa, kana jin sauƙi fiye da dā?
Since you (masc.) started learning Hausa, are you feeling more at ease than before?

Many speakers would simply say:

Tunda ka fara koyon Hausa, kana jin sauƙi fiye da dā?

What exactly does fara koyon Hausa mean, and why is it koyon and not koya Hausa?

fara = to start, to begin
koyo = learning (verbal noun from koya, to learn/teach)
koyon Hausa = the learning of Hausa / learning Hausa

So fara koyon Hausa literally means to start the learning of Hausa.

You could also hear:

fara koya Hausa

That is also understandable, but the most standard and natural pattern with fara is:

fara
- verbal noun:
  - fara koyo (start learning)
  - fara cin abinci (start eating)
  - fara magana (start talking)

Hence fara koyon Hausa follows that common pattern.

What does kina jin mean here? I thought ji means hear.

The verb ji in Hausa is very flexible. It can mean:

hear
feel (emotion or physical sensation)
experience
understand (in some contexts)

In the pattern:

kina jin X

it usually means you are feeling X or you are experiencing X.

So:

kina jin sauƙi
you (fem.) are feeling ease / you feel better / it feels easier

Compare:

Ina jin zafi. – I feel pain / I feel hot.
Ina jin daɗi. – I feel good / I’m happy.
Ina jin Hausa kaɗan. – I understand a little Hausa.

What does sauƙi mean here?

Sauƙi basically means:

ease
relief
improvement
getting better (after difficulty, an illness, or effort)

In this sentence:

kina jin sauƙi

means you are feeling that things are easier / you feel relief / you feel it’s less difficult.

So the idea is:

Since you started learning Hausa, do you find it easier now than before?

What does fiye da mean, and why is there another da after it (fiye da da)? It looks like than than.

This is a very natural confusion.

fiye da is the normal Hausa expression meaning more than (comparative):
- Yana da girma fiye da ni. – He is bigger than me.
- Yau zafi ne fiye da jiya. – Today is hotter than yesterday.
The second da is actually dā (often written with a long ā), which is a different word meaning before / formerly / earlier.

So fiye da dā = more than before.

If we write it more carefully:

fiye da dā

then it’s clear they are different words:

da = than
dā = before, formerly

So the ending fiye da dā? just means than before?

Could I leave out that last dā and just say fiye da?

If you only say:

... kina jin sauƙi fiye da?

Hausa listeners will normally expect something after fiye da, because fiye da needs a point of comparison:

fiye da da? (before)
fiye da da baya? (in the past)
fiye da daɗin da kike da shi a baya? (than the enjoyment you used to have before)
fiye da da? is the short, common one.

So in this meaning (than before), you should keep the dā:

...kina jin sauƙi fiye da dā?
...are you feeling more at ease than before?

Why does the sentence start with the part Tunda kika fara koyon Hausa? Could I put that later?

Hausa is flexible with clause order, just like English.

The given order:

Tunda kika fara koyon Hausa, kina jin sauƙi fiye da dā?

puts the time clause first: Since you started learning Hausa, ..., then the question.

You could also say:

Kina jin sauƙi fiye da dā tunda kika fara koyon Hausa?
Are you feeling more at ease than before since you started learning Hausa?

Both are possible, but starting with Tunda... sounds very natural and is probably the more common choice here, especially in careful or written language.

How would I answer this question in Hausa, in a simple way?

Some natural short answers:

Positive:

Eh, ina jin sauƙi fiye da dā.
Yes, I feel more at ease than before.
Eh, Hausa tana min sauƙi yanzu.
Yes, Hausa is easier for me now.

Negative:

A’a, ban ji sauƙi fiye da dā ba.
No, I don’t feel more at ease than before.
A’a, har yanzu ina ganin ta da wuya.
No, I still find it difficult.

You can then add reasons if you like:

Saboda ina da ƙarancin lokaci. – Because I have little time.
Saboda ban samu mai koya min ba. – Because I haven’t found someone to teach me.

Is the whole sentence talking about the past, the present, or both?

It actually combines both:

Past event starting a period:
- kika fara koyon Hausa – when you started learning Hausa (a completed action in the past)
Present situation as a result of that:
- kina jin sauƙi – you are (now) feeling ease / it’s easier now

So the structure is:

Since you did X in the past, do you now feel Y?

That is why kika is in a perfective form (completed event), and kina is in a continuous/present form (ongoing state).