Sí se puede revisited
The media have been translating the phrase as "Yes, we can!" If you're new to Spanish, that translation may make no sense — there's nothing in the Spanish to suggest that a "we" is involved ("we can" is normally translated as "podemos"). I won't go into detail here, because I addressed the question or translating that phrase in this post about two years ago, except to state that "Yes, we can!" isn't a word-for-word translation but one that (in this context) gets the idea across quite well. And that's what many beginners seem to forget: Learning Spanish or a foreign language isn't just a matter of learning words and vocabulary, even though that's what's emphasized in classrooms and in sites like this one. It's a matter of learning how to get ideas and feelings across to someone. To do that, you need to look beyond the individual words and grammatical structures, but look at what what is meant.
Comments
I’m glad that you went on to say that language is about what is meant not what is translated. Too many companies say that they need, want or have translators. Yet, what they are churning out is garbage. When teaching the “impersonal se” one needs to realize that there are many meanings. It is not translators we need, it is interpreters. And, that make all the difference.
I fully agree with Gerald and Kimberly, “yes we can” surely conveys the idea suggested by “sí, se puede”, provided the proper context is considered. As always, contex matters, so no translation between languages is possible without proper context.
Yep, you’re right, context matters, especially when it comes to words and phrases that have very vague meanings such as this one does. It’s more important sometimes to get the spirit of what is said rather than a literal meaning.