My perspective on Down on the Island

Having read “Down on the Island” by Jim Cooper I started thinking about some of the aspects of my education I often take for granted. I tend to chuckle when people ask me whether I’m American or lived in the United States for some time in my life. I sometimes need to remind myself how fortunate I am. Being part of the small amount of people on the island who speak fluent English I mostly find myself using the language more often than most of those who surround me. There have been a couple of situations in which I have given friends help on improving their English. A guy who is currently taking conversational English in my university asked me recently if he could practice with me his English. I was flattered but despite the dire help he needed I said yes and didn’t think much it.

Jim Cooper reacts to many of the issues about language and other things as well. For example, he mentions politics and economic issues which were present when he was teaching in Mayaguez and have only gotten worse since then. He speaks as an outsider but submerges himself in Puerto Rico’s lifestyle and shows a genuine interest in helping with the language issue, the only one he could assist with according to his skills. I really enjoyed reading part of his book because I see what he describes every day. Although I am not American and have lived here all my life I can relate to what he says very well. He works with the concept of in group, out group which can be looked at differently depending on the angle you decide to use. The outsider could very well be himself being the American in Puerto Rico but you can also say that Puerto Ricans are the outsiders when it comes to the language used in class (seeing English itself as the in group). On the other hand he only works with his own perspective of this, questioning the incidents where the family members came to his doorstep asking why it was that their family member (his student) received an F in his class if he supposedly liked them.

He’s the one who is gazing at those who compose his community where he is sort of an alien. Jim Cooper exposes very well the challenges and hurdles that both the teacher and the student have to face within the educational system that is imposed on them. He does not blame or resent the student for the skills that he/she lacks but instead he seeks to understand them and help them.