French language Q&A Forum

I'm not understanding why, in French, when someone is learning something, it is stated as "apprendre à" and not just "apprendre".

For instance: She learns to dance. - Elle apprend à danser.

Given that the unconjugated verb danser literally means "to dance", why do we need to insert à (to) again?

Tangentially, does the verb apprendre ALWAYS take the preposition à? If not, can you give me an example where it wouldn't (and maybe explain why it wouldn't in that situation)?

Thanks!

The lesson didn't mention much about "par".
Is it really used just for those few mentioned in the note?

Do the singular names that refer to groups take the same conjugation like (il/elle) or like (ils/elles) 

Ex: is it la famille est or la famille sont ?

I thought it is depuis...je suis (not past).

Or is it a difference between:

Since then, I have been following her career

Vs

I have since been following her career.

Why wasn't "d'ici minuit" an acceptable translation for "by midnight"?

In regards to the last section about food, when do you use 'À/Aux' compared to when you should use 'De'?

Pourquoi est-ce qu'on ne peux pas dire "C'est quoi qui" au lieu de "Qu'est-ce qui"?

Is it a rule that être + adjective is always followed by the preposition de? Or can it be followed by à sometimes?