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今日の問題です：Many Japanese want to say "I entered junior high school," or "I entered that company."
Depending on the context, most non-Japanese may understand what is meant. For example:
1. When I entered junior high school, I joined the tennis club.
2. I will enter that company in April.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, enter is defined as:
1. To gain admission to (a school, for example).
2. To become a participant, member, or part of; join: too old to enter the army; entered the discussion at a crucial moment.
So, both of the sentences given above are correct. However, the word enter has other meanings as well. Most Japanese only think of the word as 入る as in 入学 or 入社.
The word enter in the context above could also mean when you physically entered the building (at school/work). When I first heard the phrases "entered school" or "enter that company," it was not immediatley clear to me that the speaker meant 入学 or 入社. After a split-second, I realized what the speaker actually meant.
I would probably only use the word enter to mean 加入する instead of just 入る. I would suggest to most Japanese speakers to say the above phrases as follows:
1. When I entered junior high school, I joined the tennis club.
→ When I started junior high school, I joined the tennis club.
→ I joined the tennis club in junior high school.
→ When I was in the 7th grade, I joined the tennis club.
→ I was a tennis club member from the 7th grade.
2. I will enter that company in April.
→ I will start work at that company in April.
→ I will start working there from April.
→ Starting in Apil, I will be a new employee at that company.
→ I will start working for that company in April.
As you can see from the examples above, using words like join or start convey only the meaning of when you started your career as an employee/student at a specific organization. There is no confusion whatsoever about when you entered the organization's building.
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