English language versus The English language

[Tom]

Hello everybody

Could you please tell me the difference between:

1- He is in love with the English language.
2- He is in love with English language.

I have often seen THE with (the) English language. Is it optional or a must?

Tom

[Yankee]

These two variations would be correct:
.
Tom is in love with the English language. ("the" must be used)
Tom is in love with English. (without "the", you must also omit "language")
.

_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English