>>644
Shortly put, both 初めまして and 始めまして are correct ways to write 'hajimemashite'.
There's an interesting post on 始めまして vs. 初めまして here:
http://blogs.itmedia.co.jp/sowhatisit/2005/06/post_cc43.html
According to it, there seems to be no consensus on which would be correct. Some sources regard 初めまして as the correct version, while others consider 始めまして to be correct.
Interestingly, the blog post also mentioned a survey that found that young people tend to use 初めまして, while older people tend to favor 始めまして.
(A quick note: in Japanese spelling isn't "fixed" in the European sense. Many Japanese words can be written in multiple ways, for example, うりきれ (sold-out): 売り切れ, 売切れ and 売切 are all correct, although 売り切れ is by far the most popular way to write the word.)
>>645
is there any way for me to be able to know what the kun'yomi reading (that IS the Chinese reading, yes?) just from reading the characters?
Not really. However, you will be able to recognize many Chinese on'yomi readings (kun'yomi is the Japanese reading), which will help you remember the readings (so you won't have to start from scratch), but you can't deduce their Japanese pronunciation just by knowing the Chinese one.
Although, come to think of it, it
is possible in some cases... For example, 夫 is read similarly in both languages (J: fu, C: fū). So is 看 (J: kan, C: kàn).
Then again, in cases like 明 (J: mei, C: míng), 月 (J: getsu, C: yuè) and 上 (J: jou, C: shàng) you won't.