[noodle]

Personally, if I were you I'd do the Joint honours. Generally, if you get a language degree, you tend to be restricted to working in the language field i.e. Teacher, translator etc. Where as with joint honours, you can do this, and MORE.

As for culture, I have to take French culture here in France. Personally I think it's a waste of time for the simple reason that; most of what I learnt in those classes, I actually learnt just by living in Paris, talking to people etc. Then there is the more complex side. This stuff isn't so easy to just pick up everyday, but if you're interested in culture, it's not hard to learn about it. At least I found it easy to learn whatever I didn't learn in class anyway. This might be because France/Paris is like the cultural capital of the world, but I found it really easy to learn about poets and dramatists etc. I just simply go to the net, search about them; I find a theatre/house (museum kind of thing) that represents their work. I go and I learn.

But this is if you're really interested in culture. Otherwise, I believe you can learn people’s cultures just by living in the country and being surrounded by the people... With that said, don't do what most foreigners do in my university. Don't stick around people from your country or people that just speak your language. I'm responsible for these students, and sometimes it frustrates me when they ask me such simple things about the country/customs/people just because they don't mix with the French.