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!