le français vs. français

Question

In a situation where we are deciding whether to use le français or simply français with the verb parler, would one or the other be more appropriate in certain settings, or are they both equally valid? I am curious if there are any nuanced differences between the two.

Accepted Answer

Hi Cara, 
With the verb parler, you can say both 
Je parle français 
or 
Je parle le français 
to say I speak Fench 
I cannot think of another verb where the article would be optional as you would have to say -

J'apprends le français = I am learning French 
J'enseigne le français = I teach French

For instance, if you wanted to say 
we speak Spanish at home 
you could say -

On parle espagnol à la maison
On parle l'espagnol à la maison 
On parle en espagnol à la maison

Very odd but an interesting little fact.
Bonne Continuation!