Les Noms et Les Articles

Nouns and articles in French are different than in English. French grammar is much more rigid and demanding in the use of these sometimes overlooked elements of speech. For example, you can't say "Girls have more fun than boys" in French. You have to say: Les filles s'amusent plus que les garçons (The girls have more fun than the boys). So then, you must be talking about a specific group of girls or boys? Nope, girls and boys in general... You have to to include the article. One exception would be with parler and a language: It is permissible to say, je parle français, but not j'apprend français. You have to say, j'apprend le français.

Here's a good web page on French Articles.