How can I tell if a word is masculin or feminine in German?
Is there a way I can tell just by looking at the word if it is masculin feminine?

Sometimes the ending is an indication, and there are some rules like "months are masculine". See the list here, for example:

http://www.mein-deutschbuch.de/lernen.php?menu_id=52

But in other cases you simply have to learn it. A good approach is to always learn nouns together with the article.