Hic modus discipulis placet, quia facilius discunt.

Because modus is a masculine singular noun, and the demonstrative hic, haec, hoc has to agree with it in gender, number, and case.

• modus = masculine singular nominative
• so the correct form is hic = masculine singular nominative

If the noun were neuter, you would use hoc instead.

Hic modus is in the nominative singular. It is the subject of placet.

So grammatically, the sentence is built like:

• hic modus = this method = the thing doing the pleasing
• placet = is pleasing
• discipulis = to the students

Latin often expresses this idea differently from English.

Because placeo works like to please or more literally to be pleasing to. The person who likes something is put in the dative.

So:

• hic modus discipulis placet = this method pleases the students = more literally, this method is pleasing to the students

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• mihi placet = it pleases me / I like it
• puero placet = it pleases the boy
• discipulis placet = it pleases the students

Because the verb agrees with the subject, not with the dative noun.

The subject here is hic modus, which is singular, so the verb is also singular:

• hic modus ... placet = this method ... pleases

If the subject were plural, the verb would be plural too:

• hi modi discipulis placent = these methods please the students

Latin often expresses liking with placeo rather than with a verb exactly like English like.

So instead of saying:

• the students like this method

Latin naturally says:

• this method pleases the students

That is why the grammar may feel reversed to an English speaker.

Quia means because. It introduces a clause giving the reason:

• Hic modus discipulis placet
• quia facilius discunt

So the second part explains why the method pleases the students.

The subject is understood rather than stated explicitly. It is they, referring back to discipulis in sense, that is, the students.

So:

• discunt = they learn

Latin often leaves subject pronouns unstated because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

From the verb ending -unt.

Disco, discere, didici means to learn, and:

• discunt = they learn

The -unt ending marks third person plural in this tense.

Facilius is the comparative adverb of facile (easily), from the adjective facilis (easy).

So:

• facile = easily
• facilius = more easily

Thus facilius discunt means they learn more easily.

Latin, like English, can use a comparative without stating the second half explicitly when it is obvious from the context.

So facilius discunt means:

• they learn more easily
• implicitly, more easily than with some other method

The comparison is understood rather than spelled out.

Yes. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical relationships.

So the sentence could be rearranged, for example:

• Discipulis hic modus placet, quia facilius discunt.
• Hic discipulis modus placet, quia facilius discunt.

The basic meaning would stay the same, though the emphasis might shift slightly.

Putting hic first gives a little emphasis to this method, especially if it is being contrasted with another one.

So Hic modus can feel like:

• this method
• this particular method

Latin often puts an important or highlighted word near the beginning of the sentence.

In a very literal grammatical explanation, discipulis is a dative, so to the students is the clearest way to show the structure.

But in smoother English, the whole sentence is usually translated more naturally as:

• The students like this method because they learn more easily.

So for the students is not the best direct translation here, even though English may sometimes use for in looser paraphrases.