My guess is that most people (trying to learn iOS) already know an imperative language, and the Obj-C will be easier. I'm really interested to find out if Swift is easier for complete beginners, who don't have preexisting programming experience. There are elements of it that look great (playgrounds being a prime example).
I believe that learning the Apple frameworks (and tools like IB) is going to constitute the majority of your time, regardless of which language you're calling them from.