A good place to start learning a foreign language is with the days of the week. This is something you will need as a tourist. This is also a facinating study in the relationships of languages. Once you master the roots of the days of the week, it will be easier to learn then in a new language. 

The days of the week were named after the seven heavenly bodies visible with the naked eye, excluding stars. These were the sun, the moon and the five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Sunday: The First Day of the Week; the Christian Sabbath

Sunday was named, in English, for the most powerful heavenly body, the Sun. The Sun outshines all others and was the logical choice for the first day of the week. In Latinate languages, the Christian tradition has changed the name of Sunday to a word meaning "Lord's Day" from the Latin "Dominus". However, in Germanic languages the pagan name of the day for the Sun has remained.

Monday: The Second Day of the Week

All languages in this chart name Monday for the Moon, the second most powerful heavenly body.

Tuesday: The Third Day of the Week

Tuesday was named for Mars, the god of war, because Mars appears red to the naked eye, like the blood-red field of battle. In Germanic mythology, he was called Tiu.

Wednesday: The Fourth Day of the Week

Wednesday was named for Mercury, the messenger god who was fleet of foot moving in and out of the sun's domain like a messenger to the king on the battlefield. In Germanic mythology, Woden or Odin was a more powerful figure, still represented by the planet Mercury. The modern German name for Wednesday is Mittwoch, meaning simply MidWeek. 

Thursday: The Fifth Day of the Week

Thursday was named for Jupiter, also called Jove, and for Thor or Donner in Germanic mythology, the god of thunder and a very powerful god in either tradition.

Friday: The Sixth Day of the Week

Friday was the only day named for a female deity, the goddess Venus. Venus is the "Morning Star" or "Evening Star" as it is the second planet from the sun. Venus appears in the dawn or dusk sky, when one spends time with one's lover. The Germanic mythological name for her is Frigg or Freya.

Saturday: The Seventh Day of the Week; the Jewish Sabbath

The pagan Romans named Saturday for Saturn, the slow-moving, dim planet representing rest, darkness and death. Every modern language in this chart has adopted variations for "Sabbath" or "Lord's Day" with the exception of English and Dutch. The root "sams-" is from an ancient word for "sabbath". Note the Latin word for Sabbath is "Sabbatum".