Articles (in English: a, an, the) are present only among the Western European and Semitic languages; the rest of the world's languages have neither need for nor concept of articles. This makes it exceedingly difficult to teach articles to students from Asia especially. At the writing center, when an Eastern student asks why a word needs an article, we normally just say, "Because English is crazy and makes no sense; just trust me it needs a 'the.'"
But, I just figured it out the other day; I hope to publish the following shortly:
"When a noun is singular, but not a proper name (a person or place), then that noun requires an article.
"A proper name receives an article only if it is pluralized (e.g. the Koreas, the United States, the Jacobs)."
It took me two years to figure that out. I can't tell you how life affirming it is to realize that English, my native tongue and field of study, has made logical sense all along. You're welcome.
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