What about a language user preference -- if the user has a set language and the document (site FAQ, or other site doc which is present in multiple languages) is available in that language then the default action is to provide the language specific version of the doc, else it defaults to english.
Can nodelets be current-node-sensitive? If so a "translations" nodelet could indicate which other languages the current doc is available in.
In general I'd advocate translation links, though presented at the top of the default document; eg. at the top of the site FAQ, next to the author and date, it may say English Francais Deutsch etc. rather than contractions, and rather than in the links to the doc.
Edit: native English speaker btw.