Immersion education is an approach to teaching language where students are taught some or all of their academic subjects in a second language. It is different from a language instruction model in that in immersion, students spend at least half of all school instructional time hearing, seeing, and using the target language. A language instruction model typically involves a much smaller amount of time (a few hours per week). The goal in immersion education is for students to become proficient in the second language and develop increased cultural awareness while reaching a high level of academic achievement. Students develop proficiency in the second language by hearing and using it to learn some or all of their school subjects (math and science, for example) rather than by studying just the language itself.