How To Read
Reading, Way Of Reading
noun
You know that 読む means "to read," right? Well, the way to read something is also known as how to read it. In the case of a kanji or a name, this refers to its reading, but more broadly it can also just refer to a particular way of reading something — the way you approach reading a book or an essay, for example.
This word uses kun'yomi readings for both kanji. For 読, that's the reading you learned with the kanji. For 方, the kun'yomi wasn't the main reading you learned, so here's a mnemonic to help you remember it:
If you need to know how to read a kanji, you should write it down on something and then catapult (かた) it across the sea to Japan. Then, someone in Japan will write down the reading for you and catapult it back to you. It's a pretty cool system, actually.
すみません。お名前の読み方を教えてもらってもいいですか？
Excuse me. Could you tell me how to read your name?
フランス語は話せるけど、フランス語の読み方は知らない。
I can speak French, but I don't know how to read French.
この漢字には読み方が四通りもあるんですか？！
Does this kanji have four different readings?!