Why are we learning Chinese while they are NOT learning English?!!-----For NYC Firefighters Learning Mandarin, Service Starts With 'Ni Hao'

For NYC Firefighters Learning Mandarin, Service Starts With 'Ni Hao' : NPR:
"...About a dozen firefighters, EMTs and paramedics are taking the first Mandarin classes funded by the New York City Fire Department Foundation.
It's the start of a voluntary program that organizers hope to expand into other Chinese dialects and Asian languages in the future.
For now, these first responders spend two hours a week learning Mandarin from Lily Cheung.
"A lot of them, they're working full time. 
You would think they're dead tired, have no energy, but no, they just put so much energy to the class," she says.
"They participate. They answer questions."
..."It's also to show the communities that we embrace them as citizens of this city, that we are in acceptance of their culture and the transition that they're going through," he says..."