Little Mermaids and Leopards

In 400 level (3rd or 4th grade students) listening classes, students are required to listen to different childrens movies, follow along in their book and fill in any missing words from the dialogue. Currently, my 400 level students are listening to The Little Mermaid. I walked into 404 today and my students kept talking about how Sebastian's song "Under the Sea" was so fast.

"Teacha, he is like a leppa."

"He is so fast teacha, like a leppa."

They kept saying that he was fast like a "leppa." I was really confused. I asked them if they meant "leopard" (thinking they were comparing how fast leopards run to how fast Sebastian sings. In retrospect this was a stupid assumption since these kids are 9 or 10 years old, Korean age).

"No teacha!"

"No, no. Leppa, like a leppa."

I was even more confused.

"Do you mean leper, like a sick person?"

"No, teacha, leppa! He sing so fast, like blah-blah-blah."

It dawned on me.

"OH! A rapper!"

"YES TEACHA!"

"Leppa! Leppa!"

We then proceeded to have a 5 minute lesson on pronouncing "l" and "r" sounds. They still need some work.

I present to you: Sebastian the Rapper.