sinseki no kodomotati ha, yakisoba yori karaage no hou ga suki da.

It means my/our relatives’ children or the children of my relatives.

• 親戚 = relatives
• の = links one noun to another, often like of or a possessive
• 子供たち = children

So 親戚の子供たち is literally relatives’ children.

Depending on context, English might translate it as my cousins’ kids, the children in my extended family, or simply my relatives’ children.

の connects nouns. Here it shows a relationship between 親戚 and 子供たち.

So:

• 親戚の子供たち = the children of the relatives / the relatives’ children

This is one of the most common uses of の in Japanese: noun + の + noun.

It does not always mean strict ownership. It can show many kinds of relationships, such as:

• possession: 私の本 = my book
• category: 日本の映画 = Japanese movie
• relationship: 親戚の子供たち = relatives’ children

たち is a common way to make a noun refer to a group, especially people.

• 子供 = child / children, depending on context
• 子供たち = children

Japanese nouns usually do not have to change for singular vs. plural, so 子供 alone can sometimes already mean children. Adding たち makes the plural idea clearer and often sounds more natural when talking about a specific group of kids.

は marks the topic of the sentence.

So 親戚の子供たちは means something like:

• As for my relatives’ children...
• My relatives’ children, ...

The sentence is then making a statement about that topic: what they like better.

This is different from が, which usually marks the grammatical subject or highlights new information. Here, 親戚の子供たち is the topic being discussed, so は is natural.

This is a very common comparison pattern:

• A より B のほうが ... = B is more ... than A

So here:

• 焼きそばより = than yakisoba
• 唐揚げのほうが = karaage is the one more...
• 好きだ = liked / preferable

Together:

• 焼きそばより唐揚げのほうが好きだ = They like karaage more than yakisoba

The phrase のほう literally means something like the side of, but in this pattern it is best understood as part of the comparison structure.

Because のほう helps clearly mark the item being chosen in a comparison.

Compare:

• 焼きそばより唐揚げのほうが好きだ = They like karaage more than yakisoba.
• 焼きそばより唐揚げが好きだ = understandable, but less standard and less clearly structured as the usual comparison pattern

The very common pattern is:

• AよりBのほうが...

So のほう is not random; it is part of the normal way to say B more than A.

Because は and が are doing different jobs.

• 親戚の子供たちは: は marks the topic
• 唐揚げのほうが: が marks the thing that is preferred within the comparison

Japanese often has both in one sentence:

• Topic: As for my relatives’ children...
• Focus/subject inside the statement: karaage is what is more liked

So there is no contradiction. This is a very normal sentence structure in Japanese.

No. 好き is not a regular verb. It is a na-adjective or adjective-like noun.

That is why Japanese says something closer to:

• Karaage is liked
• rather than a verb like to like

So:

• 唐揚げのほうが好きだ literally feels more like Karaage is preferable / liked

This is also why が often appears with 好き:

• 私は寿司が好きだ = I like sushi

In English we say I like sushi, but in Japanese the structure is different.

だ is the plain form of the copula, similar to is in some contexts.

Since 好き is not a verb, it needs だ in plain casual style:

• 好きだ = is liked / like

If you wanted to make it polite, you would say:

• 好きです

So this sentence is in plain style:

• 親戚の子供たちは、焼きそばより唐揚げのほうが好きだ。

Polite version:

• 親戚の子供たちは、焼きそばより唐揚げのほうが好きです。

Yes, in this sentence より works very much like than.

• 焼きそばより = than yakisoba

But keep in mind that より is not always used exactly the same way as English than in every situation. In comparisons, though, that is a very good translation.

A very common pattern is:

• A より B のほうが adjective
• B is more adjective than A

Examples:

• 犬より猫のほうが好きだ = I like cats more than dogs.
• 電車よりバスのほうが便利だ = Buses are more convenient than trains.

Yes. If the comparison is obvious from context, you could just say:

• 親戚の子供たちは、唐揚げのほうが好きだ。

That means something like:

• My relatives’ children prefer karaage.
• My relatives’ children like karaage better.

But without 焼きそばより, the sentence no longer explicitly says better than yakisoba. The listener would have to infer what the comparison is.

Because Japanese often leaves out pronouns when the context already makes the meaning clear.

Here, 親戚の子供たち already tells us who is being talked about, so there is no need to say they separately.

Japanese avoids repeating subjects and pronouns much more than English does. Once the topic is established, Japanese often just continues without restating it.

A rough breakdown is:

• 親戚の子供たち は = as for my relatives’ children
• 焼きそば より = than yakisoba
• 唐揚げ のほう が = karaage more / the karaage side
• 好き だ = is liked

So the overall structure is:

• [Topic] [A than] [B more] [liked]

This is different from English word order, but it is a standard Japanese comparison pattern.

A natural literal gloss would be:

• As for my relatives’ children, compared with yakisoba, the karaage side is liked.

And the natural English meaning is:

• My relatives’ children like karaage more than yakisoba.