DAYS OF THE WEEK

Les jours de la semaine. The French week begins on Monday so that's

where we'll start.

Note that the names of the days are not capitalized unless they start a
sentence.

 lundi > Monday
 mardi > Tuesday
 mercredi > Wednesday
 jeudi > Thursday
 vendredi > Friday
 samedi > Saturday
 dimanche > Sunday

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE 'LE'

When you are discussing days of the week, use the definite
article le before each name, when you are talking about something that
happens repeatedly on a certain day. To make each day plural, add an s.

 Je vois Pierre le lundi. > I see Pierre on Mondays.

 Nous travaillions le samedi. > We used to work on Saturdays.
 On y va tous les mercredis matin / soir. (NB: Matin and soir here
are adverbs and so don't agree.) > We go there every Wednesday
morning / evening.

If you're talking about the day of a unique event, do not use an article,
nor should you use a preposition equivalent to "on."

   Je l'ai vu dimanche. (I saw him on Sunday)

   Il va arriver mercredi. (He'll arrive on Wednesday).
 ORIGINS OF DAY NAMES
Most names for days derive from Latin names for heavenly bodies
(planets, moon and sun), which in turn were based on gods' names.

Lundi is based on Luna, the ancient Roman moon goddess; mardi is the

day of Mars, ancient Roman god of war; mercredi is named after
Mercury, winged messenger of the ancient Roman gods; jeudi is
devoted to Jupiter, monarch of the ancient Roman gods; vendredi is the
day of Venus, ancient Roman goddess of love; samedi derives from the
Latin for "Sabbath"; and the last day, though named in Latin for Sol, the
ancient Roman sun god, became dimanche in French based on the Latin
for "Lord's day."
 MONTHS OF THE YEAR
The French names for months of the year, les mois de l'année, are based
on Latin names and ancient Roman life.  Note that months are
not capitalized either.

 janvier > January
 février > February
 mars > March
 avril > April
 mai > May
 juin > June
 juillet > July
 août > August
 septembre > September
 octobre > October
 novembre > November
 décembre > December
 THE FOUR SEASONS
The passing of the four seasons, les quatre saisons, has inspired many
an artist. Antonio Vivaldi's famed concerto grosso may be the
benchmark. These are the evocative names the French bestowed on the
seasons:  

 le printemps > spring
 l'été  > summer
 l'automne > autumn/fall
 l'hiver > winter

TALKING ABOUT SPECIFIC DATES

Questions: 

"What's the date?"

Quelle est la date ?

Quelle est la date aujourd'hui?
Quelle est la date de (la fête, ton anniversaire...)?
What date is (the party, your birthday...)?
(You cannot say "qu'est-ce que la date" or "qu'est-ce qui est la date,"
because quelle is the only to way to say "what" here.)

Statements:

In French (and in most languages), the number must precede the month,

like this:

C'est + le (definite article) + cardinal number + month

     C'est le 30 octobre.
    C'est le 8 avril.
    C'est le 2 janvier.

Exceptionally, the first day of the month requires an ordinal

number: 1er  or premierfor "1st" or "first":

    C'est le premier avril. C'est le 1er avril. > It's the first (1st) of

April.
    C'est le premier juillet. C'est le 1er juillet. > It's the first (1st) of
July.

For all of the above statements, you can replace C'est with On

est or Nous sommes. The meaning is essentially the same in each case
and all can be translated with "It is....."

   On est le 30 octobre.

   Nous sommes le premier juillet.

To include the year, add it at the end of the date:

   C'est le 8 avril 2013.

   On est le 1er juillet 2014.
   Nous sommes le 18 octobre 2012.